


The journal of the end

by Pau_CA



Category: Original Work
Genre: Action, Action & Romance, Apocalypse, Bi-Curiosity, Biological Weapons, Bite, Contagious, Cure, Eventual Romance, Gay, Gunshot Wounds, Hurt/Comfort, Lesbian Character, M/M, Mutation, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Zombie Apocalypse, Roadtrip, Travel, Violence, Virus, War, Weapons, Zombie Apocalypse, Zombies, fireweapons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:40:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 26,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27993894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pau_CA/pseuds/Pau_CA
Summary: Isaak had run away from the consequences of a pandemic once before, searching for a better life and a new chance. But he wasn't expecting to face a new threat years later, much worse and lethal than the previous one. He'll find himself in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, only with a notebook in his hands. That's when he'll find Duncan, along with a change of safety.
Relationships: Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	1. Isaak's journal- Epilogue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, everyone. This is my first time publishing in this platform as well as writing my first original. I don't have a posting schedule at the moment as I'll like to see how this first chapter does before updating weekly, so I'd appreaciate any feedack and comments about it! I'm really excited to see the response to this new work and how will it turn out.
> 
> Also, some quick instructions. Whenever there's a date or a text inside parentheses and in italics, it means that it belongs to the main charcater's dairy. Now I hope you enjoy it!

**_9 January 2026_ **

_ (So... I don't really know what I'm doing here to be honest. I was told that writing my thoughts and feelings down would be a great idea to get myself to a better mindset or some shit like that. I honestly don't know if this will work but, I'll give it a go. Oh, yeah, I forgot the basics,I guess. My name is Isaak Azarov, I'm seventeen, half russian and I have some shitty traumas) _

"Azarov! Are you even paying attention?" Isaak cringed at his teacher's loud voice mispronouncing his last name and raised his head from his brand new notebook. He mumbled an apology as he closed his diary and put it back in his bag, yet he couldn't bring himself to pay attention. His mind was wandering around his old memories, those that he mentioned in the first entry of his journal. 

For starters, Isaak recalled the way his mom proposed to leave their country back when he was eleven. It was their only change to be free as Russia planned to close the frontiers to prevent any kind of exterior menace in the future. The government forbade the international movements and any contact with the rest of the world; drastic measures for a "common good". Isaak remembered his mother's words perfectly _"These rough times have made them lose their sanity"_. That sentence made him feel hope, because he believed that the place they traveled to would be welcoming and warm. He was proved wrong once he met his new teachers, classmates, neighbours...His provenance wasn't well seen after what his country pulled off, and it was a prejudice that didn't fade with time.

"Does anyone know something about the coronavirus?" That was it, the reason for Isaak's problems, just being asked as a trivial question.  There were whispers, not truly about the pandemic, more like mocking words towards the russian boy. Isaak raised his eyebrows, it wasn't like he was the only one that was around when the pandemic hit, but everyone seemed to find his situation thrilling. Apart from his eyebrows the rest of his face was neutral, he didn't win anything from showing his annoyance.

"There was a recent discovery of a similar virus that has been developing itself in a natural way, without any scientists getting involved. I think it could be interesting if you guys could investigate this phenomenon" The teacher spoke after seeing no one was up to answer his question properly "The project will be handed in next week, make it 1.000 words long and add the websites where you found the information at the end of it."

( _ Really? A fucking new virus? What is this? Last time, 6 years ago, the world went crazy because of Covid-19. The Russian and Chinese governments closed their countries down to prevent any intoxication from the rest of the world. What will be next, an apocalypse? This makes my anxiety go batshit.) _

" Isaak, ty dolzhen sdelat' domashneye zadaniye i prekratit' pisat' " Isaak's mother demanded, in their mother language, for him to do his homework instead of writing in his journal. No matter how little energy he had left, he grabbed his laptop and started searching about that "Covid-26" that his teacher had introduced to him. It didn't really say a lot, nothing more than the weirdly quick mutation that was suffering the virus in a natural environment and how it hadn't affected any living animal yet, only plants which was uncommon. Isaak didn't know that there were any viruses that could get attached to plants,  _ don't you need to have blood and all to get sick? _ He thought; but it seemed like it did affect vegetation and it made the plants look dead, but they still worked and made the photosynthesis the same way. Isaak typed down some of the information that he gathered and collected some simple pictures to illustrate his work. As it was a new-found mutation there wasn't much to write and I decided to wait a few more days for more news to come out. Even thought I silently hoped that there wouldn't be anything else.

“Mama, what do we have for dinner?” Isaak yelled from upstairs once he had finished all his work. It took a bit of ruffling and clinking before he got an answer from his mother “Your favorite, sushi!” At least his day could end up better than it had started.

He smiled at the thought of food and stumbled down the stairs to help set the table, otherwise she wouldn't feed him, she did have a temper. But dinner was usually the only moment that Isaak got to talk to his mom as both of them were busy most of the time, him with school and her with her own boutique. It had outstanding clothes, most of them vintage or some edgy things that Isaak proposed her to purchase. It was the most busy clothes shop in their city. It wasn't really surprising knowing that they lived in a small place with only two other places to buy your clothes at. Isaak was even used to seeing really weird and extravagant people at the shop, who usually left the place empty handed.

“How was school? Any cute devushka?” Isaak sighed and looked up at his mom while they cleaned up. ‘Devushka’, ‘girl’...He wasn’t good at talking with people, let alone trying to date anyone. Isaak didn't care that much anymore, he never had a crush on anyone so his little social experience wasn’t all that bad if he looked at it that way.

**_11 January 2026_ **

( _ I've been investigating about this stupid virus for more time than I thought I would. I got caught up by the discreet panic that the scientists were showing through small statements that indicated two possibilities. Either they don't have any ideas of what this virus can do, or they do know damn well but they are scared of it. I'd love to believe that they are clueless about the situation, but something tells me it's not the actual reason why they are looking so desperate to keep all the information for themselves.) _

Isaak was writing down everything that he found interesting about Covid-26, it wasn't even for the project anymore. He was becoming worried about how the situation was being handled.Because even after five hours of doing research the boy only got a list about what this mutant virus did now that it had passed to some humans. The list started with a very common symptom, fever. It was a really high fever that caused a big amount of sweating along with difficulties to breath. It seemed to cause some kind of hallucination to the people that got the virus, there was no further explanation of those. Apart from that there weren't anymore symptoms that they had discovered, and if they did they didn't want to share.

"What is this? TEOTW_Virus.com?"He read out loud when his eyes fell on the weird title. It wasn't an official website, which called his attention. There wasn't any page that talked about the virus if it didn't have trustworthy fonts, which Isaak believed couldn't be this weird site. Yet he was curious to check what it knew. His fingers moved over his laptop and clicked the name of the web site. An all black themed website appeared with the title of "Is this the end?" in yellow capital letters. He frowned and started reading more of the rare article that appeared before my eyes.

The creator of that blog stated that he was a scientist that worked at the sanity center of Washington. He talked about how the newfound mutation of the Covid-19 was way more dangerous than what they were telling us. The man believed the virus had affected some kind of parasite and the mix of both had developed into a potentially dangerous symbiote. 

He rolled his eyes at the screen of his laptop. It was probably just a kid that wanted to live in a movie and was making up stories. What left him thinking was that it was actually signed as a man named " _ Cole Douglas _ .", a name that he had heard somewhere before maybe in the news years ago. The uneasy feeling that he got upon reading that name drove him to search more about this man. In fact, he was a scientist and he had disappeared five years ago when he was investigating illness mutations. Reading this didn’t help ease his nerves. "Come on, Isaak. You can't believe this shit" I said to myself and I hoped that I was right when I said it was just a kid...Because if it wasn't, we would find ourselves in the apocalypse.  _ The zombie apocalypse. _


	2. Hidden and free

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chaos appears in Isaak's life the way he feared the most. He's determined to prove to his mother that everything will be fine as long as they are careful. Things don't seem to go his way once the virus shows its true colors at school. Reckless greetings, fearful textes and a questionable scape are the things that will mark the start.

** _22 January 2026_ **

_(It's been two weeks since the media presented the mutation of the virus. People are getting it all around the world, and no one knows how it is happening. The people getting sick didn't travel or were in any kind of contact with people that traveled. Most of them were farmers or people that lived far away from the cities. But it is getting worse day by day and no one is trying to keep us calm. I gotta be honest, I'm scared as fuck of what is about to come)_

"Isaak! Please clean your hands when you come in the house with the sanitizer" The woman yelled at her son once he opened the door of their house. Isaak did not argue at all even if he had just cleaned his hands before coming in. It was easy to tell that she was also scared of it. The last pandemic had marked their lives, it made them leave their family and house, not even being able to say goodbye. The virus forced them to change everything that they knew and had been doing their whole lives. That was what Isaak’s mother was terrified of; of it being worse. And she was with her in that frightening thought, yet he didn’t let it be noticeable for their own shake. Everything was going to be alright...Nothing to worry about. That’s what he kept repeating on a loop. They wouldn't be any better if they let their fear possess them.

“Mama, don’t worry. I always carry another bottle of hand sanitizer when I go outside.” Isaak tried to reassure his mother. She seemed pleased and way calmer as she heard those words, and the boy that was already making his way upstairs was relieved that his mask covered most of his expression. Because it saddened him how his mother was always alert, ready for something bad to go down. 

**_27 January 2026_ **

_(There's a lot to worry about at this moment. The principal is making us pass through temperature control every three days. Most people have stopped going to school, work or they are leaving their houses. Mom wanted me to do it as well but I hope that I can prove to her everything is alright instead of holing up at home. The people that got sick don't come back though, no one knows anything about them, not even their families.)_

"Everyone stand up for the control, please!" There was it again, a doctor stood at the doorframe of the class where Isaak was at. Other three, well protected against bacterias, nurses came in with their thermometers right behind the suited-up man. The blonde’s anxiety was raised as one of the nurses came to his side to take his temperature, he didn’t feel warm at all but he couldn’t help himself. Isaak closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before the tool made a weird, beeping noise. He opened his eyes, suddenly not remembering what sound was it supposed to do when your temperature was normal. Had it always sounded that way or was it the kind of sound that he hoped to avoid?

"Oh...You are a bit warm, I'm sure it's just the stress. Don't worry about it, it happens often" sweet words that relieved Isaak left the nurse’s mouth. With that being said, he sat down on his chair again and watched how the rest of the control went. The boy’s eyes averted a girl in the back that seemed nervous. There was sweat falling down her forehead and her hands were shaky as she tried to hide them in her pockets. It was noticeable that she was holding a cough to herself, but she ended up failing. Let me tell you the cough sounded bad, but it was worse once she took her hand away from her mouth. It was covered in blood that had come out through her lips along with the cough. The nurses ran to her in no time and took the thermometer and other weird-looking gadgets to check her. The tools started beeping like crazy and, unlike Isaak’s beeps, these were easily recognizable as a positive. 

"Take her out! Right now!" The whole class went silent as the brunette girl fought to be free, yelling and kicking as the nurses took her away from the rest. Isaak limited himself to stare at her and, for a second, he would have sworn he saw her brown eyes turning grey. The blonde gulped at the sight and shut his eyes trying to convince himself that he didn’t see such a thing seconds ago. There was no way that it could have been real.

"She will be okay guys" Empty words, that’s all they said at that time. Always making up the best scenarios, everything to keep people in line. Isaak couldn’t deny that he usually applied that way of thinking when he was home. But he had to be honest after he saw that girl being dragged away like a rabid animal. "That's what everyone says, but they never come back" the words left his mouth carelessly, he knew he wasn’t the only one that acknowledged that, yet there were surprised whispers between his classmates. He didn’t get away from being scolded by his teacher who desperately tried to keep everyone under control. 

_**10 February 2026** _

_(I'm one of the few kids that are still going to school, some are home, others might be dead. That's the problem here. We don't know. We don't know shit about this yet. I've seen about 30 teens being taken out of the school this week, I asked their parents about them. And surprise, they aren't allowed to see their kids. Does the government actually want us to believe that they are working on this virus? They haven't spoken for more than 10 minutes about it! If they had a way to handle the situation they would have done something by now, it seems to me that we are just guinea pigs for them. They want to see how this affects us, to see the outcome of this virus.)_

"As I have told you before, our ancestors were-" The speech was cut off by a weird noise coming through the speakers, it was startling and loud. Isaak looked around the classroom hoping someone was trying to prank them with really similar audio to the purge one. But he was hit with the fact that everyone there was as concerned as he was, some standing up asking their teacher about that sound. The noise stopped once the voice of their principal came in scene, stern tone being heard everywhere in the school.

"This isn't a fake alarm. Everyone, close windows, doors, blinds, everything that you need to do that will maintain you in a safe, isolated place. Everyone keep calm and stay as far away from windows and doors as you can. I repeat close everything and stay far from possible entries" the man said, panic cracking his voice by the end of the announcement.

They did as told, quickly closing every possible entry. Isaak’s mind ran hundreds of thoughts per second as he tried to understand the very briefly explained situation. Could it be a school shooter? Right at that moment? That couldn't be real, it wouldn't be the first time in history but, right in the middle of this? They sat in a corner at the end of the class, the only one that didn't have a window or door near. There was a dead silence, Isaak would’ve loved the calming sound of nothing any other time. But this one was different, it was full of fear and tension. 

He heard steps over the white noise of the classroom. Some were fast, others truly slow. Isaak closed his eyes wondering why there were people outside although they had been informed to stay inside of their classrooms. There were a lot of people or that’s what Isaak could guess. They moved around, hitting the walls or maybe even falling to the floor clumsily, the boy couldn’t figure out why there were such noises on the other side of the wall. He grabbed his phone looking for a way to contact his mother, only to find messages of her being displayed on his lock screen. The texts were confusing and alarming. "They are here" said the first one." I must be having a nightmare", "I love you Isaak" and "Please, ran as fast as you can" followed suit. And the last one, the one that froze his blood.

_"You need to live."_

His eyes started watering with a stinging feeling. Who was there? Who were they? What was going on? He couldn’t make his mind, the texts he had read made no sense for him. He felt trapped in his phone until a loud bang on the door made him jump and drop it. Some kind of frightening curiosity pushed him to look at the door, but the teacher pulled him back to the floor with a panicked look. That thing on the other side was definitely not a shooter, but it had strength. Isaak could hear the door creaking, the wood breaking slowly with the bangs of that creature that he was sure wasn't a person. And then, it was opened with a thud. Isaak heard grunts, animal-like, before he could even see what it was. It did look like a human from the back when he saw it, but the skin of the arms seemed rotten and pale.

"Marie? Is it you?" A boy yelled standing up. Marie, the brunette girl that they took away weeks ago, stood there panting heavily. The rest of the people stood up to greet her as well hurrying her to stay away from the door, but Isaak was keeping his distance when 'she' turned around. Her face was covered in blood, and her eyes were grey, just like when she left. Marie growled as she jumped on the boy that had recognized that creature.

( _That's the last clear memory from that day. The way her black-ish teeth dug in the brown skin of who once was her friend, the blood flooding, and the screams that sounded everywhere. I ran away, I saw more like her. There were more creatures like her than there were humans. But I was somehow fast and they were busy; busy eating people. I remember seeing the military outside, shooting at whoever that got out. I thought they were only killing the weird things, but I saw Mr. Rae being shooted in the head as he asked for help. I probably ran upstairs in a desperate moment, and I ended up on the roof. Alone, but safe)_

**_12 February 2026_ **

_(I'm in the roof, alone. I have some water that I still had in my backpack. I heard screams in the city, but I'm too dizzy to stand up and see. I texted mom that I was okay, but she hasn't seen anything yet. She will I guess. No one has tried to reach the roof, and I hope they won't. I saw a chopper but it fell from the sky into the city somewhere. This feels unreal, I'm probably dreaming. Maybe I'm sick as well and I'm just hallucinating. Yeah, I hope)_

Isaak put his notebook inside of the bag again, his handwriting was messier than usual and his words were rushed in the paper. All the noise around him was just as messy, he couldn’t tell what was happening. It was only when he heard gunshots that he became more aware of his surroundings, those that he had tried to muffle. He could tell the shots were coming from downstairs, inside of the school. He thought it could be the army or something, but being in the USA, it could be anyone to be fair. Isaak leaned on the door to figure out if someone was there to help. It took a minute or two for him to hear voices, and he swore he had never been so thankful to hear someone. "Maybe there's someone left in the roof?" that’s what he heard. A man asking from the inside of the building. He didn’t waste any time, standing up and hitting the door were his priority, he needed someone to help him and he didn’t even know how to open the door. He must have damaged it when he closed it abruptly.

"Yes! Here! I'm up here" he shouted, desperate for that help. Footsteps were heard through the door before the same voice warned him to stay away from it. The handle was blown up with a gunshot, opening the door before Isaak. In front of him stood a tall man with a big gun or whatever it was, maybe a riffle. Isaak had never been a fan of weapons. And now that he was being pointed to the head with one, he didn’t regret his dislike. The blonde put his hands up before a woman appeared behind the owner of the gun. She made the man step backward with a simple sentence “He is just a kid, not a rotten." Isaak was confused but glad that they didn’t kill him on the spot. The man looked at the teenager up and down before asking him if he was hurt or anything. Isaak was only able to shake his head at the question.

"Pull your sleeves up, boy" The stranger said sternly as he signaled the blonde’s arm with the canon of his gun. Isaak nodded and did as told, showing his pale arms, the right amount for him to verify that the boy didn't have any recent wounds. Apparently, that’s all they needed to know about him before offering him to follow them. He didn't want to be alone anymore; it was driving Isaak crazy. He couldn’t say no to such a thing but when he saw the city, he wished he could have stayed up there peacefully. The streets were full of dead bodies, people running, screams, the creatures walking calmly until they were close enough to jump on some human... Everyone had weapons from knives to bats to guns...Even golf sticks were fine as long as they could keep those things away. 

The couple that found Isaak took him to a car parked in the middle of the road. And quick enough they were out of the principal avenue, which had been the most crowded street. Isaak took a few minutes to breathe, convincing himself that the car was safe. Once he calmed, the woman decided to speak up: "I'm Shannon and he is Robert, what's your name love?" She was nice and friendly at first glance.

"Isaak. Thank you for picking me up, guys. Do you know what is going on?" He asked as he tried his hardest to not look outside, he didn't want to see more of those horrible images. His eyes focused on both adults, waiting for an answer that he might have known already. "The virus. The government was keeping the infected away because once you get the infection, you are done for. I wouldn't call it to die, though, because your organs work the same but you don't feel or think anymore. You are a body walking on its own, looking for a prey to eat" Robert explained to him as he turned to the left, he looked like he would have been in the military; a tall, well-built man with a hard and cold expression in his face.

"So...Zombies?" Isaak asked more worried than surprised. He had read about it, of course. The possibility wasn’t anything new for him and he knew what would be the world's fate. But hadn’t stopped to think about it as an actual reality, he wasn’t ready for it and it scared him.

"We call them _rottens_ , buddy" 

** _15 May 2026_ **

_(I think it's been three months since the last time I saw the exterior and wrote down something. This all started three months ago but Shannon and Robert took me to the bunker with another three people. We had food, water, beds, and a warm place to live in. We lived away from the danger, away from the rottens or any other humans. Anyone would have killed to be in our place. But being closed like an animal in a cage turns people crazy. Robert doesn't let us talk if he doesn't say so, we can't move without him allowing it. I have small talks with this girl, Wanda, she is sweet and always shares the food she gets assigned. The other two men, Warren and Max never talk to anyone else than Robert and they give me dirty looks. Shannon looks out for our health, she is the one that gives us the food and preventative meds. I don't think I'm crazy, yet. Keyword, yet)_

"I can't do this anymore Isaac, we have to leave" Wanda told Isaak one night when the rest were sleeping soundly. They usually slept away from them, not wanting to get caught talking without permission. "We can't, we'd die out there!" the boy exclaimed in a whisper trying to knock some sense into her. But he knew that, despite his intentions, he had just made things worse for her.

**_17 May 2026_ **

_(I guess one of us was going to die even inside of our bunker...Wanda killed herself that night, she left a small note next to me. She said that she was sorry about leaving me alone with them all but she couldn't take it anymore. It was too much for her. I understand her. She was on her right to do it. But I feel alone, Shannon can't talk to me as much as Wanda did. And I won't even try to talk to the three built men that could kill me with a blink. At least...There's food)_

_**2 June 2026** _

_(We are lacking food. I know they are planning something, but they won't tell me. I've only had a piece of bread for breakfast and nothing else. Robert seems crazier than ever, he says he hears voices calling for us. Shannon tries to make him understand that there's nothing but he won't listen. We are fucked up. So fucked up. Maybe I could have left with Wanda. She wouldn't be dead. Or maybe she would and I would be as well. It's the apocalypse, you never know what the fuck is about to happen. I wish I could go back in time, maybe I could have told mum to stay in Russia. I bet there's no virus. They are closed to the max and it is impossible to get in the country. They might be the safest place. Maybe one day I'll be able to come back there...)_

"Isaak! Wake up!" Shannon’s yell startled the boy. Panic tinted her voice and Isaak couldn’t register a reason right away. But he didn’t need to ask, he saw it once his sight focused. Robert had blood over his chest, a chest that wouldn’t move a single inch, he was dead. But they all knew that in their new world people didn't stay dead for too long. Isaak didn’t hesitate to grab his bag and put it on his shoulders ready to leave whenever someone opened the goddamned door. Robert, or more likely, his body started waking up with his new grey eyes. Shannon had tears in her eyes as she tried to talk to the zombie, but it was useless and stupid, not to mention deadly. In a quick blink, the rotten had jumped on who once was his wife, eating parts of her. All Isaak could see was blood flooding and blank eyes. 

Max shot both of them as Warren started opening the door once they had secured everything they needed. The gunshots were loud but pointless as the rottens kept coming closer to them, why wouldn’t they drop dead?. Finally, the first door was opened, but they had lost Max as well. Don't think that Isaak gave a fuck about him, not at all. But he was aware that he didn't want to fight a 6'2ft tall zombie along with the other two that they left behind.

"Run, kid, run!" Warren yelled at the teenager as he killed one of them with a shot in the head. Isaak ran to the next door, hitting it, trying to open that last obstacle. The blonde yelled at Warren to throw the keys his way the moment he saw a rotten approaching Warren. Isaak prayed for his reflexes to be good enough to catch the keys when the man threw them at him. Surprisingly he did catch the keys, opening the door to the outside. Finally running out not looking behind me even once.

Isaak ran faster than he could ever remember doing. He saw the devastating view of the city, crashed cars, shattered windows, fire...And of course, zombies. The boy had only imagined how it would be but seeing it was something way different. As he ran farther, he paid attention to the dead bodies on the floor, some being eaten, others starting to wake up again...He had to get out of there or he would die like the rest in the bunker. 

_But this wasn't the bunker anymore. The exterior awaited him._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next part of Isaak introducing you to this new era through his notes! He is out and alone now, maybe he'll have to learn how to survive all by himself. Maybe he won't be able to write as much. Guess you'll have to see it in the next update!
> 
> Also, thank you for reading I really appreciate any kind of support that you give to the story!


	3. Someone New

"Come on! Where the fuck are you guys at?" a black-haired boy yelled. He looked around, shooting at the rottens that were in his way. The teenager tried to find his friends but they were nowhere to be found. The zombies had parted his group when they were trying to get supplies. He didn't fear anything happening, his team knew how to defend themselves perfectly fine. They had been together since the start and nothing couldn't be fixed with some bullets and ducktape.

"Vic! Josh! Mads! Come on, motherfuckers." the boy, Duncan, shot two rottens as he shouted; smirking at their bodies dropping. He ran around, killing every zombie that was in his vision range. The rottens were slow, hence why it was easy to kill them with a single bullet. Duncan kept finding the rest of his group as his top priority. It should be easy to find a really tall and built man and a blonde nice dressed woman with another red-haired girl among the mess of rottens. But it seemed to not be the case. 

At the possibility of running out of bullets, he pulled out his knife. Every rotten that tried to have a bite, got stabbed in the head quickly. From the wounds, flooded that dark almost black blood, tinting with disgusting patches. But no matter how many he killed, there were way more zombies as time passed. 

Duncan spotted a store that seemed to have its door opened. He cleared his path forcefully, finally opening the door made of glass and closing it behind him. The boy looked out one of the windows, hoping to see his friends out there. He spotted blonde hair between the greasy dead heads of the zombies. Duncan squinted to see the person better. His hopes were up, thinking it would be his team leader; but looking better, it was a boy. He didn't have any gun or knives or anything to protect himself, he was trying to run from the three rottens that followed him closely. Duncan sighed and opened the door of the store, taking his sniper out. He pointed to the rotten that was the closest to the blonde and the bullet went right through the side of his head and ended the one that was by his side as well. Two in one shot. 

The blonde guy flinched and looked around. Duncan whistled so he could see him. And when his face turned his way, the black-haired gestured him to run to the store. More zombies walked over him and even if Duncan had enough bullets to kill them all, it was better to stab those things and help the boy.

Duncan fully opened the door and walked out with a dagger in his hand. He reached the blonde quickly and put his arm around his shoulders, noticing his unwell state. They walked as fast as they could to the door, Duncan lead the boy towards the nearest thing that he could lean on, and then he closed the door safely.

"For fucks sake...Thank you" the blonde said breathing deeply, coughing right after, and bending over to rest his hands on his knees. His face was covered in dirt and a few scratches, too small to be nail scratches, though. "Don't thank me yet, those things will break the glass in a few minutes. We have to get to the roof" Duncan said patting the other's shoulder. The blonde nodded and stood up properly. Duncan noticed that he had a wound in his arm because it was wrapped on some old fabric and there were stains of blood. He didn't ask, though, because the blood had normal color instead of dark like it would be if he had been bitten. 

They heard the crack of the glass starting to give up as a bunch of zombies hit the door. Duncan looked towards the blonde and pointed to the stairs that took to the highest part of the building. It was dark upstairs and he hoped no zombies were there to give them a scary moment. Duncan had his gun ready just in case and he gave the guy one of his knives.

They were walking carefully until they heard the crash of glass breaking and the characteristics noises of the rottens increased. They speeded up their pace and luckily they were in front of the door in less than two minutes. Duncan tried to open it but it was locked, he got ready to hit the knob but the blonde stopped him.

"If you break it, the zombies will be able to get in as well" he said with a strained voice and the black-haired looked at him narrowing his eyebrow. "Then what do we do?" he asked looking downstairs, hearing the clumsy steps of the rottens. The blonde guy stopped to think and then asked him if he had a thinner knife. Duncan nodded and started looking in his pockets for it. He handed it to him, and he crouched to be at the same height as the lock, Duncan noticed that he was chewing bubble gum pretty loudly, no idea how he found that. The black-haired frowned when he took it out of his mouth and put it on his knife. He put both things in the lock and started moving them around. Duncan closed his eyes and thought 'what the fuck is he trynna do?'. But his eyes shoot open as he heard a click coming from the door and a quiet "yes" came out from the blonde's lips.

Duncan looked at him and smiled impressed. The blonde took the knife, and gum that was stuck on it, out of the lock. He opened the door and closed it just as soon as they were on the roof. Duncan breathed in relief, running a hand through his hair pulling it away from his forehead. The blonde took the sticky thing off the knife and, once he cleaned it on his jeans, he gave it back to its owner.

"That was ingenious. Disgusting, but ingenious" Duncan said breathing better now that there were no zombies tailing them. "Didn't think it would work at all, to be honest" he said pressing his lips in a line. The black-haired nodded and put his rifle on his back. The other boy sat on the floor looking at the horizon while Duncan walked to the edge of the building, hoping to see the black double cab van that his group owned. But it wasn't near to see. People couldn't disappear like that, it was the apocalypse, not a magic world. He sighed and looked for his walkie talkie in his pocket. There were really a few times that it worked but he had to try. Duncan talked to the small device, asking if anyone could hear him.

"Guys, do you copy? Duncan here. Someone answer" he said a few times. The only answer that he could get was that annoying sound that walkie's made when there's no connection. He sighed and put it back in his bag. Duncan let his eyes rest for a few moments feeling the slight tiredness from running and killing rottens.

"So, your name is Duncan" the blonde boy said. The addressed realized that they hadn't introduced themselves. It wasn't his fault, after about four months of society falling down, he wasn't used to meeting people. Duncan walked closer to him and crouched in front of the blonde guy. "I'm actually Derek Duncan, but I don't like people calling me by my name" he said with a small smile, the guy seemed frightened and Duncan tried to act as nice as he could "What about you?"

"I'm Isaak Azarov, call me IsaaK" He said running his hand through his hair. Derek looked at him narrowing an eyebrow. He believed that there weren't any Russian people out of their country since the Coronavirus infected the whole world. Isaak's scoff made him stop thinking about his last name like he read his mind.

"I know it is weird to meet Russian people, but I ran away from there before all the airports shut down back in the day" He explained looking away. Duncan nodded, telling him that it was interesting. Most people in his country wanted to stay away from all the possible issues outside their land and that's why he found it weird to find him there.

"Are you alone out here?" Duncan asked, sitting on the floor, still facing him. "Yes, since I got out of a bunker. I had been there for months, but one of the people there turned into a zombie and...yeah" Isaak told him looking at the sky, he didn't seem bothered by their deaths if you asked Duncan.

Living in a bunker since the start of the apocalypse? That was everyone's dream. Duncan thought. Only the rich people were able to be put in safe places like that while the rest of them battled against the rotten. But looking at the guy in front of him, Duncan could tell that bunker wasn't as good as the ones that the high class owned. He looked so lost like he hadn't eaten in some weeks and most likely the wound in his arm hurt like hell. He looked from the sky to Duncan and then again to the horizon like he was thinking about something.

"You have a group somewhere, right?" Isaak asked looking at him, finally. "Yes, we wanted to get some shit, supplies, but the rottens made us separate. They will be fine, but I have to find them. And the walkie talkie isn't very helpful" Duncan said sighing with a lazy hand movement. Isaak nodded and mouthed "I can tell" with a small smile. They started talking to avoid the silence of the apocalypse, which wasn't actually silent as the rottens growled and hit the door that kept them safe and sound. Isaak asked the black-haired how long he had been with his group. Duncan told him to get comfortable to hear the story.

He started telling him that the first week of the apocalypse he was with someone that sadly didn't make it. That woman helped him a lot back in the day and he would always be grateful. Then after days of walking alone, he found a car, there was no one inside or around so he opened it carefully. Duncan looked for the keys when he heard the sound of a gun being loaded and the cold object touching his scalp. He put my hands up, reassuring the person that he didn't want any problems and that he would leave if it was needed. A woman around thirty-five years told him to turn around and get away from the car. Duncan did as told and she looked at him with a frown. Apparently, she had seen him killing rottens and she was impressed when she found out he was just a teenager. Duncan kept telling her he was no harm until she believed him and offered him to get in the car. She introduced herself as Sargent Queens or Victoria, to be less formal.

She told the boy a lot about how the virus was being spread literally everywhere and how no one seemed to know what to do. The governments had lost hope and the important people were moved to save places. Both of them spent another week wandering around keeping themselves alive. Until they found Josh and Mads in the third week of the apocalypse. Madison, a girl with bright red hair, was trying to run away from Josh, who was also trying to kill all the zombies around them. At first Victoria and Duncan thought that Joshua had bad intentions towards the young girl. But they were wrong, Josh was a firefighter and all he wanted was to keep Mads safe. Which the redhaired girl didn't understand at first with all those rottens around. 

They offered them both water and food. None of them had family around to be with so Victoria offered them to come with her and Duncan. Josh was a great help, he knew lots of places to find supplies and he knew about strategic places to be safe for some time. And Madison, even being fifteen, was really good at killing zombies. Which at first, had worried the black-haired boy, but when he got to know her he could see that she wasn't going to kill them all at night. They all spent all that time together, looking for a safe place to stay.

"They sound like they are really cool" Isaak said in a way that Duncan could tell was surprised. Before he could say anything, a big bang was heard against the door. He stood up quickly helping the slightly, taller boy up as well. Duncan pointed his rifle towards the metal door, ready to shoot the rottens. But before the door could even be opened Isaak tapped his shoulder signaling the ladders at the side of the building. Duncan agreed, he went first, in case there were any zombies to get rid off. They heard the noise of the metal falling to the floor. What could be a dozen of rottens walked past it. Duncan jumped to the floor, looking for the small gun that he had on my back. Once the blonde was on the ground as well he gave him the weapon. 

The black-haired looked up, the zombies were about to fall down the building and he didn't want to be there when they did. Both boys turned around the corner to the right, but there was a rotten coming from the left towards Isaak. "Shoot him!" Duncan told him before it got too close. "I don't know how to use a gun, man!"

Duncan turned around with shock, and Isaak just looked at him confused and shaky. The black-haired fired his rifle and killed the rotten for him. How had he survived from the last time he was at that bunker to that right moment? He didn't ask it out loud though, just signaled him to stay close. The noises of the rottens started to increment as their bodies fell to the street from the roof. The sound made other zombies come their way as they picked up their pace. The guys ran to the main street, which I may say, was a really bad idea. The smell of blood, the noise of their steps, and the grunts of the rottens had combined to the point where those motherfuckers were everywhere.

The boy by Duncan's side didn't look really well after all the running. He hoped he could find a way to get out of there. And he was running out of ammunition, there were too many rottens to kill them with knives. The boy started to stress out right when he saw an empty van not far away.

"Come on, man. We can be safe there!" he said pointing to the car with his head. They started running again, this time with a real direction. Duncan jumped over a legless corpse but apparently, Isaak didn't see it and fell on top of it. Duncan cursed and shot the dead woman in the head, before crouching and helping Isaak up as quick as he could, dragging him to the vehicle. He opened the door and pushed him in, jumping right in as well. Isaak scooted to the passenger seat as he locked the doors.

"Are you okay?" Duncan asked the blonde, out of breath "Oh, yeh, I think I'll just..." And he...he passed out right there. Great, Duncan hoped he was just resting and not dead. Because it wasn't a really good idea to have to deal with a rotten in a car.

* * *

There were noises somewhere near Isaak. He felt dizzy and didn't remember where he was. He couldn't recognize the voices that sounded in the distance. His eyes started opening slowly, it was dark and he thought he was trapped in a small place as his body felt restrained. But when Isaak opened his eyes, he noticed the stars in the sky. The only thing that his dizzy mind couldn't comprehend, was the feeling of being trapped. That was until his eyes darted down to see his hands and ankles tied up. 

"Look, the guy was all alone and I don't think he has eaten anything in some time. It would be so cruel to leave him there" Duncan said but it wasn't directed to Isaak, though. He was talking to a tall blonde woman that looked at him sternly. Isaak didn't have a really good sight of them from where he was, aka the back part of a van. But he also distinguished a man and a short teenager near the other two. He figured out that those were Duncan's friends, the ones he told him about at the roof.

"I don't want to bother or anything. But...Why am I tied up?" Isaak asked cautiously, If the blonde woman was the Sargent that Duncan told him about, he didn't want to piss her off. "You could be dangerous" the man with a dirty uniform stated. 

The blonde boy's eyes widened as he looked to the boy that had saved him earlier that day. Or maybe it wasn't the same day, he didn't know how much time he had been out, to be fair. Duncan sighed and walked towards him with a knife in his hand. It shone even with the soft light of the sky. Isaak backed away all he could until his back hit the vehicle.

"I'm not going to kill you, dude" The black-haired said cutting the ropes. Isaak let out an embarrassed "oh". You couldn't blame him, after seeing the way the guy had killed rottens you could expect lots of things. He rubbed his wrists and stood up too quickly. He felt too weak to stand on his own, one of his arms held his body up before he could fall. It was logical, he had passed out hours ago and he couldn't remember when was the last time he ate properly. Not to mention that he had always been anemic.

"Here, have some Reese's" The blonde woman said to Isaak, she was less alert now. "I'm Victoria Queens. These are Joshua, Maddison, and Duncan, but you already knew that one" The black-haired threw a peace sign before sitting down at the edge of the truck bed. 

Isaak introduced himself before starting eating the sweets under everyone's gaze. It wasn't difficult to know that the rest of the group didn't trust the blonde boy. They kept staring and judging the guy while he had the first bunch of calories after weeks. Victoria saw the blood-stained cloth on the boy's arm and shot a look towards Duncan before signaling him to follow her.

"He has a wound; it could be a bite" she was practically scolding Duncan, who shook his head at her comment. "I'm quite sure it isn't, just look at the kind of blood, it's normal. I know you think there's something off with him, but he can't even use a gun, Vic" Duncan said scoffing slightly. 

From not too far away they heard Maddison threatening the new guy. Victoria turned around and walked towards them, telling Mads that the blonde boy didn't seem to be that dangerous. Isaak sighed in relief when the red-haired put the knife down, away from his face. He thanked the older woman for the help.

"Duncan told us that you don't have anyone out here. Is that true?" Victoria asked and Isaak nodded "Well, I guess you can come with us. But the moment that you do something that we don't like, you'll be alone, rottens food."

Isaac raised his hands in a peace gesture. The blonde woman nodded and told the rest of her team to get some things to start a fire and cook the meat that they had found. They found food when the group parted because of the rottens. While Duncan was with the Russian boy, Maddison had spotted a shop that had its lights on. This meant that if there was food it could be well conserved in some freezers. Mads was in charge to get the food; Victoria decided to look for medical supplies and some ammunition; Josh was wandering around in case Duncan came back.

Everything was calm until the ex-fireman heard some shots. At first, he thought that it wouldn't be the black-haired guy, as he could perfectly kill a rotten with one single bullet, no need to waste. But when he saw a numerous group of rottens, he doubted his first thought. When the three of the group made their way between the rottens to get to the van circled by zombies, they found their friend inside. What surprised them all was that he wasn't alone.

"How long I had been passed out?" Isaak asked Duncan. They were all around the fire that Maddison had started a few minutes ago. Isaak had offered himself to cook the meat. He always liked to help with the cooking in summer camps. "About three hours, man" The black-haired said, " I thought I was gonna have to give you 'peace'."

The blonde looked at him confused at the use of the word. Joshua, who sat in front of them, explained to him that "giving peace to someone" meant to shoot them in the head. It was meant to stop them from turning into rottens or to kill a zombie. Isaak was glad that he hadn't got any peace that day.

"You didn't know what peace was, and you don't know how to use a gun? How the fuck?" the redhaired girl asked as she took a rough bite of her dinner. Isaac blinked at her before answering. What a girl. "Well, I've spent these months of apocalypse underground and it isn't my fault that all Americans have something for shooting" the blonde said grabbing a piece of meat "I get that Victoria and Joshua know how to shoot but, you two?"

Maddison shrugged accepting the meat that the new guy gave her. Duncan started talking about how he used to hunt with his dad when they needed good food. Their house was in the mountains near the town, and they lived thanks to the small orchard that his father took care of. Along with the things they hunted and the really few supplies they bought at the nearest store.

"Tell us some more about you Isaac" Victoria requested, eating her food. Isaak swallowed his dinner before answering "I got to the town when Russia went on lockdown. My mother and I lived in one of the small houses near the river. My mom owned the boutique of the city. She was working when the rottens appeared. I haven't seen her since then"

The rest nodded understanding. Everyone had lost their families or friends when it all started. Some saw it happen, others weren't able to be there. And, to be honest, no one knew which situation was worse to face. Seeing your loved ones turning into monsters and having to kill them before they kill you. Or living with the doubt, were they alive? Were they dead? Would their presence change anything if they were there? It was hard to choose the best option.

After that there was silence. They ate their "dinner" slowly, enjoying the food. Something else that wasn't easy, having food. Yes, the group had found a good amount of snacks and chocolate. But the chances of losing it all in a fight against rottens or being robbed by other survivors were high. In this world, you had to be aware of everything and not trust easily. Isaak was lucky, he had come across a nice team. He may have been threatened by a fifteen years old, but that threat could have ended in death if he had found someone else instead.

"Okay, guys. We've got food, and I found some ammunition back in town. Tomorrow we'll gather for gasoline" Victoria said standing up. She gave the blonde boy a look and pointed at his arm, covered with a bloody cloth "Isaak, you should get that checked"

The blonde shook his head, reassuring her that he was okay and that he had gotten that from a fence. The woman gave him a stern look as she told Duncan to check it out while the rest prepared the van to sleep in it. Isaac sighed looking up to the sky. He didn't remember the last time he saw the stars glowing above his head, it was beautiful. The fresh breeze was comforting even if the situation wasn't really enthusiastic.

The black-haired boy signaled Isaac to sit at the edge of the trunk. Against his will, the blonde sat there while Duncan looked for the first aid kit that Victoria had found. When the shorter boy approached Isaac, this one looked to his side, not wanting to see his wounds. Duncan unwrapped the cloth and stopped to check what was it. He thought that he would find a large scratch along the Russian boy's forearm. But he saw small cuts all over it, they didn't look like they were made by a fence, not at all.

"You didn't get hurt with a fence" Duncan spoke up, looking at all the wounds scattered under the red blood. "I did it with a piece of one..." Isaac said unbothered. He hissed when the boy in front of him started cleaning up the cuts. It stung, it wasn't really painful but it was overly annoying. Duncan kept cleaning over the damaged arm without saying a word. It wasn't until he had wrapped up the other's arm when he sat next to him ready to talk.

"So...you tried to kill yourself, eh?" Duncan said, he wasn't surprised by that. Also, he wasn't the kind of guy that knew how to be gentle with words. He did the same as he did with his gun, shoot his shot without stopping to think. Isaac chuckled bitterly. He shook his head, bringing his hand to his forearm.

"If I wanted to die, I would have done it. I just wanted to feel something, I guess" Isaac explained like it wasn't a big deal, his voice was full of tiredness and Duncan listened carefully "But it actually almost got me killed."

"You have some bad shit, don't you?" Duncan asked raising an eyebrow with a chuckle, he intended to lighten up the mood. Isaak nodded before answering him properly.

_"Don't we all?"_

> (In the apocalypse people don't judge why you don't want to live. In the apocalypse, it doesn't matter what were you in the past only what will you be tomorrow, human or zombie? I'd like to only be a dead normal human, but I guess I'm too coward to do that. So I'll just try to not be a burden for this group that I found. They are nice, maybe they don't fully trust me yet but I can't really blame them for that. You can't trust anyone these days)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while but be ready because I have a lot of chapters ready for all of you! I hope you liked these new characters and I hope you will be here to learn more about them. Leave any comments and kudos if you enjoyed it, the support is always appreciated.


	4. Fast Learner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Learning how to defend yourself is essential when you live in the apocalypse. Isaak will find out what's his thing as they travel, hoping to find more supplies.

Isaak's first night with the group went perfectly fine. He had to stay awake for an hour to guard the place in case something was approaching them. Everyone did the same in different turns, the rest stood awake for a bit longer than him, though. Throughout the whole night, only a few rottens were seen and they showed up in Duncan's and Victoria's turns. So it wasn't something to worry about.

"Okay, guys, we need that gasoline and anything we can pick up. Ammunition, weapons, clothes, tools...Everything you think that is useful, take it" Victoria said first thing in the morning. "Where are we headed to?" Joshua asked. The blonde woman asked for a map to show us more accurately. Maddison handed it over to their leader, who thanked her with a warm smile. Queens pointed out a small village on the other side of the river. It was time to leave the city, there were many rottens in the zone and the supplies were most certainly running out.

Victoria thought that as Francisville, the nearest village was smaller it would have fewer rottens and fewer people that needed the provisions. Everyone agreed with her idea. There were two ways to get to the spot, logically Joshua said they should take the one that passed right over the river. It was shorter and easier to drive through than the one that went over the mountains avoiding the river.

"The bunker where I stayed was past the river. I tried to come to the town passing the bridge, but it was full of rottens and dead bodies" Isaac pointed out, he had a vivid memory of it. "The mountains are probably a better option. There will be few zombies" Duncan announced, he also knew his way around the hills, an advantage that they could take.

Victoria sighed but she knew that it was better to take longer than to take a risk. And soon enough they were all in the van; Joshua drove, the two women sat with him in the cabin while the young boys were in the back part. Duncan always sat there, he would shoot at the rottens or throw them a small rock with his slingshot, which worked just as fine. Isaak watched the empty road, there was blood in certain spots, maybe some bad looking rotten...But nothing else. He remembered driving that road towards the mountains a thousand times, it always had people with bikes or walking around. Yet now the only thing that walked over there were zombies that fell dead once Duncan got a good sight of them.

"Do you enjoy taking them down?" the blonde boy asked the one that stood next to him, curiosity noticeable. "Wouldn't say enjoy, but I like to practice and I think that I'm doing everyone a favor giving them peace" Duncan explained, shrugging at his words. He was already pointing towards another zombie.

Isaak observed him silently, trying to understand how someone was able to kill something with a catapult. The black-haired boy turned around, though. He told Isaak to come to the side of the trunk to which the blonde hesitated. He didn't want to move and fall out of the car, but he stood up anyway. Once he was there, the shorter boy gave him his slingshot. Isaak looked at him confused as he held the item.

"You can't go around depending on others to save you" Duncan said crouching by his side "I'm gonna teach you some shit so you don't die"

Isaac looked at him like he had just said some stupidity. He was generally bad at everything that didn't involve punches. The blonde couldn't even win a single video game with guns involved. But no matter how he complained, Duncan didn't accept a no as a response.

"The first thing you have to do is see what you want to hit. Then you just focus on that point, stretch the string and let it go."

"You make it sound like it's easy, man" Isaak complained as he turned slightly to face him, Duncan just shrugged and gave him a small rock. The blonde took it and put it in its place. He saw a rotten walking slowly and decided to throw the rock at it. Isaak took a breath, tensed the string, and let it go. Let me tell you, he failed the shot, not even getting close to the zombie. He frowned and looked at Duncan annoyed. This one raised an eyebrow and told him to not expect to be perfect in just one try. He also told him to relax; Isaac was visibly tensed up, but it was something that he couldn't help with. "Okay, try again. There's another one following us" Duncan pointed out, signaling the rotten.

Isaak tried to concentrate on the zombie's head. This time the other boy was giving him the instructions, guiding him all the time, nudging at his elbows as he peaked over Isaak's shoulder. And when he finally let go of the string, it had hit the rotten's neck. It was pretty good to be the second attempt. Duncan congratulated him even if he told him that if that was a life or death situation he would be fucked up. "You'll get it with some practice" the black-haired reassured him with a pat on his back.

He sat with his back against the vehicle as Isaac tried to hit a signal that read "Mountains, 2km". To his own surprise, the blonde hit the center of it, leaving a dent. He turned around to see Duncan who nodded in approval. Isaac sat again, ready to give the catapult to its owner. But this one told him to keep it in case there was any inconvenience. Isaak raised his eyebrows and shook his head. "I think I'll just run"

"I mean, that worked until you tripped over a legless zombie" Duncan said reminding the blonde what happened the day before. Isaak mumbled a "touché" and leaned against the cabin as well. Maddison yelled at them to not stand up from that moment because they were starting to go up the mountain. Duncan gave the car some slaps for the rest to know they heard it. The road was less well conserved over the mountains than the city, so the van started moving a bit more erratically.

Meanwhile, in the cabin, Victoria kept her eyes on the map to make sure they followed the right path. Maddison played with her dagger between her fingers, Joshua told her off about it but she didn't listen as per usual. The redhaired was a rebel, which was obvious from the first time she was seen. She always carried with her a dagger and a small gun, disliking the thought of not being able to protect herself and depending on others.

"Okay, you have to turn to the right in the next-" Victoria's words were interrupted. A body fell right on the front part of the car, making Joshua brake. Isaak hit his head with the vehicle, and so did Duncan. Both boys stood up trying to see what happened. Isaak could see a bloody hand on top of the hood. He looked at the other guy alarmed. Duncan jumped off the truck and walked quickly to the front.

"What the fuck happened?" he exclaimed.

"That body, it fell from a tree or something" Maddison told him, looking through the window to get a better idea. Joshua looked at the body carefully, he didn't know if it was fully dead, for now, it didn't move.

Isaak approached the driver's side of the truck to see what was going on. And right when he reached it, Joshua's question was answered. The body was still alive and didn't wait to jump on the nearest thing. Which was the Russian boy. Both of them fell to the side of the road, which had a small fall. Everyone rushed to get over there, weapons in hand, no matter how surprised they were. They heard a groan somewhere and they looked for their new boy. They found him trying to get the rotten from on top of him. Maddison was about to shoot when Victoria put her gun down and told her to look better at the situation. Isaak had killed the zombie already, leaving the young girl confused. She didn't think the boy was able to do that and, to be honest, no one did either.

"I had a bit of luck" the blonde said raising the slingshot, breathing rapidly. "I told you that you'd get it with practice" Duncan smiled helping him up. Isaak shook his head showing him that he had used it to stab the zombie's head more than to shoot at him. He cleaned the catapult on his jeans, leaving a red black-ish stain on them. The other boy looked at him with open eyes, he had more strength than he had thought.

Victoria walked closer to the body, to try and figure what had happened for it to fall from a tree. She crouched next to it and inspected for any wounds. She saw marks similar to scratches and bites, but those weren't human-like, so it wasn't from a rotten. Queens stood up quickly and looked towards the rest of her group. They looked at her confused as she made her way back to the vehicle. She seemed agitated, which couldn't be any good.

"Get in the fucking car, the cabin, everyone" She said in a whisper yell. Duncan was about to say that they didn't fit but the blonde woman looked at him harshly. All five people got in the car, all bottled up inside. They were concerned about the look in their leader's eyes.

"I think we all forgot about another concern apart from the rottens...Mountain lions" Victoria said loading her gun. The bottled up people in the car exchanged looks. If it wasn't because of the imminent threat to their lives, their situation would be quite funny. Duncan was sitting on Victoria and Maddison, Isaak was somehow sat on the floor with his legs occupying some of the space next to Mads and then Josh was pressed against the door. It would be difficult to drive that way, but they couldn't stay there for much longer. Everyone was trying to think of a good plan to get out of there.

"Okay, what if we try to drive like this?" Isaak suggested from his uncomfortable position. The exchange of looks started again. It was a stupid idea. But sadly, no one had any better. Josh sighed and started the car again. He pushed one of Duncan's legs that were hitting him all the time, the young boy apologized and tried to give the man more space; only to roll and fall onto the floor hitting Isaak in his face. The blonde glared at him but tried to help him to fit in the small space between the girls' feet.

Their trip started again, most of them were more comfortable now. But the young boys kept hitting themselves with the car in every bump, they really weren't lucky guys. Maddison laughed at them when she wasn't busy looking out for any pumas. She hoped that the virus didn't affect animals, because mountain lions were already too much to handle. They didn't need zombie pumas..?

Victoria gave Joshua the needed indications to arrive at the village. Everything seemed to be calm, no zombies, no pumas, no humans...It was all silent. Duncan listened carefully, he was used to hearing deers, birds and other small animals but now it was like everything had died. He could only hear the engine of the van, but it sounded a bit weird. "Why is the engine doing that sound?" the black-haired boy said frowning.

Victoria looked down at him, trying to hear better the sound. Sometimes the noise of the car seemed a bit weird, not really sounding like it should. Isaak looked at them both, he heard it as well. He tried to sit better, like if that would make any difference but the sound didn't faint.

"We can't have such bad luck for the car to break, right?" Isaak asked with concern all over his face. Joshua told them that the car was working just as fine as it should. But it was obvious that the sound didn't mean anything good; if it wasn't the engine what the hell would it be. Maddison hadn't said a word, but suddenly she rolled down her window to look better through the mirror. She saw something, or so she thought, in the back part of the truck. The redhaired rolled the window right up and turned around to open the other window that parted the cabin with the back of the truck. Once she opened it, two green eyes appeared in front of her, accompanied by the dangerous fangs of a puma. Mads closed it right away, with her eyes wide open.

"I think we found the problem!" she yelled. Josh didn't stop driving, though, he didn't believe it was any good for them to fight the puma. Duncan reached to grab Vic's gun, loading it. The blonde woman looked at him raising her eyebrows, questioning his actions. The black-haired rolled his eyes and told Joshua to stop driving. The ex-fireman shook his head, telling him it wasn't safe to stop. But he did once the leader of the team agreed with whatever that was going on in the young boy's head.

Duncan stood up as he could, moving over to the window next to Maddison. He rolled it down slightly, only enough to put part of the gun outside. Everyone stayed silent to the point that they could finally hear something coming from the bushes on the side of the road. And then without warning, the boy shot to the bushes. It scared a deer that was hiding there, making it run to the road. Once the animal was in the sight of the puma, this one hopped off the truck and started chasing the horned mammal around. Duncan rolled up the window again.

"You're welcome" he said, giving Victoria her gun, going back to the floor. "You didn't have to hurt the deer, dude" Isaak told him, yes, he felt bad for the animal no matter if his life had been threatened.

"I didn't, I only scared it, what happened afterward was nature" Duncan nudged the blonde's shoulder.

> (Having a group is surviving. Everyone in a group is supposed to take care of everyone, to protect them all. It is learning from everyone, their ways to react and deal with problems. There's not an individual thought, whatever that it's done it's not for the good of only one. I think I'm lucky that I found this group because I can see that they are like a family, not just a bunch of people with a common goal)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised there will be a bunch of chapters coming in a short amount of time. If you enjoyed Isaak finding out that his thing is hitting, then leave a comment and kudos!


	5. Friends

"Thank god, my legs were starting to hurt like hell" Isaak said jumping off the vehicle. Madison raised an eyebrow while looking at him. He had his legs occupying her space most of the time. The blonde boy shrugged and walked behind Duncan, not wanting to be left alone with only a catapult. Victoria had said that they would split up to cover more territory and be faster. Both women went together to check a bunch of cars that had crashed and even if they probably didn't work, they could have gasoline. Joshua was checking other cars as well, but he was trying to find one that was in a good state and that everyone could fit in. Because after having a puma in the back of their current car, it sounded way safer to get a family car.

Duncan usually was the one to keep an eye on everyone in case there were any threatening creatures. This time he didn't only have to do that but also keep the new guy close while they looked for ammo. The blonde kept looking around, not wanting to be surprised by a rotten or a puma if those animals had reached down to the city.

Both boys walked close to the buildings, looking for any stores that could have weapons. "Do you really think it's a good idea to split up" Isaak asked as he walked over a corpse. He looked down at it, it was a dead woman. He jumped over the body to follow the armed boy. Duncan held his rifle up, always ready to kill whatever that could try to eat them. It was a really reassuring gesture for Isaak, he would be okay if he stayed around.

"Not at all, but it's the fastest way to get this done" The black-haired answered his previous question sighing. He believed that it was dangerous. They could be way more protected in a group of five than duos, but after all, Victoria was the one that knew what strategies were the best for each moment. Isaak only nodded and then his gaze traveled towards a closed store. His eyes caught the sparkle of something. He made his way from behind Duncan towards the shop. The black-haired was facing the other direction, but he saw something moving from the corner of his eye. When he turned around there was nothing, but Isaak wasn't there either. So much for the sticking together thing.

The blonde walked fast to the door of the place, hoping he could open it without making much noise. He pushed it gently and it moved, letting him in easily. The store had three halls and a bunch of shelves at the end of the shop. Isaak walked carefully, he didn't see anything around but he didn't want to take the risk of leaving his guard down. He minded every step as he looked for what he had seen before, the thing that made him run towards the store. He couldn't see it yet but there was a tiny space in the cashier with multiple Russian and swiss knives, he didn't waste a second before grabbing a Russian one.

Duncan kept cursing as he whispered Isaak's name. He couldn't believe that the boy ditched him, he didn't have weapons. He was also worried that maybe something took the blonde. The black-haired definitely hated babysitting. But he had gotten himself into it, not that he really regretted saving the guy but at that moment his annoyed mind would have preferred if he hadn't.

There was no sign of the blonde but luckily there weren't signs of zombies. If a rotten had gotten Isaak he would have heard it, seen it, so the most possible thing was that the idiot ran on his own. He could see Joshua from where he was, he was far away, checking a van that had a crack on the passenger seat aide of the glass. Snd the women seemed to be too far for Isaak to join them. He looked at the shops at his right, his eyes caught two open doors. The newbie could have gone inside one of those in the time that Duncan wasn't looking at him. The first place to check, the store with fancy lettering. The place was dark and it smelled kind of bad. Duncan heard shuffling in the back of the store, he put his gun up stepping closer. He was midway through the first hall when a bottle rolled over the floor slowly, it was blood over it. Duncan's pace quickened to the end, quickly pointing to his right when he reached the end of the hall. He felt a blade against his neck before he could see who he was threatening and being threatened by.

"Isaak? Are you dumb? Why the hell did you run away? Where did you get that?" Duncan asked putting down his weapon and grabbing Isaak's wrist to put the knife away from his neck.

"First, I'm not dumb. And I got this at the door if you didn't see the box full of these. Also, I got something better, tada!" Isaak raised two bottles of alcohol, vodka, and whiskey. The black-haired looked at him with wide eyes. "You run away to get alcohol?" He exclaimed but kept it as a whisper to avoid rottens hearing them and coming their way. Isaak rolled his eyes and made Duncan turn around without minding his complaints about what he had done. He opened the backpack that the taller guy carried and put both bottles inside the bag.

"Just so you know alcohol helps sanitize wound, it helps gasoline to last longer and be more effective, you can start a bigger fire quicker than just waiting for things to burn, is good to cook and you can make that kind of bombs with it. Not to mention that rottens wouldn't be able to smell our essence if we poured whiskey over ourselves" The Russian boy explained to Duncan the reasons why he wanted to grab alcohol and that definitely left him speechless. The shooter looked at Isaak surprised after all that, and the blonde shrugged. "What? I can't shoot but I know some survival tricks"

Duncan scoffed and told him that they should get out of there, the blonde agreed but not before he grabbed the whole box of knives. The black-haired didn't complain about the idea, but he did at having to carry more weight on the bag. "As you are so good at finding things you should find yourself a bag" he told him once they were out of the store.

"There's literally a sports shop over there with bags showing on the front, you blind, Duncan?" Isaak said leaning forward and to the side to look at the other's grey eyes. "My eyes are perfectly fine" Duncan answered pushing him to the side. He motioned him to stay close and not leave again. They were quick to grab a bag and fill it. Once they made it they walked together towards Joshua who was pretty much damming the car next to him. 

The man couldn't turn it on but the car had looked pretty well so Isaak asked if he could try to open the car's hood for him to check the engine. Josh told him how he had already checked in but a second look wouldn't be so bad.

"It seems okay to me" Duncan said leaning over Isaak's shoulder to see the inside of the car. Everything looked like it should, but there was a horrible smell coming out of it. "It smells like rotten but it should work despite the odor"

Isaak looked at the front of the car from a few feet away, there was blood there. He came back to the engine and smelled around, Duncan and Joshua exchanged confused looks before the guy stuck his hand in the car. He made a surprised noise and pulled something out. Right after that, a hand was thrown to Josh's face and no, it wasn't someone slapping him.

"There was a fucking hand there, I think it disconnected a wire" Isaak said with a slight shudder, he put his hand inside again to pluck everything in "Okay, all set, I think it should work now. Give it a go" Duncan sat at the driver seat and put the wires there together to start the car which made a pleasing noise.

"Huh, he is useful after all, not just a tiny guy" Joshua joked and patted Isaak's shoulder friendly. The blonde blinked at him offended making Duncan laugh at him. For a second Isaak stopped just to look at him, there was a smile on the guys' face that he wouldn't expect from someone that spent months surrounded by zombies. It was because he hadn't been alone, he had a group and it was a good one. Everyone seemed to know each other well and treat everyone as family, and Isaak saw that in just one day of being with them. It was amazing how they had been through everything together and the blonde hoped that he could stay. 

"Okay, guys! We got two gallons of gas and some soup cans. Oh, and blankets, dirty but warm" Victoria said cheerfully as she and Mads got to the car. "We also found this baby!" Maddison said with a huge smile that was also a bit creepy. Even worse when 'the baby' was a big machete that she was carrying. "I already have my knife so, who wants it? Newbie? I think stabbing is your thing" she said towards Isaak and gave the big ass knife to him.

"Well, thank you" he said very awkwardly but he appreciated it. He was not that good at aiming and if he had to stop to collect rocks each time he'd die. With that, he could just swing and chop some rotten's head off. Sounded like a better plan for him.

They didn't waste more time, they all got in the van, it was like a commercial one, it had a front seat and then everything behind it was empty. It was very ideal for them, they could put the blankets on the back and sleep on the van with the doors closed and be safe for the whole night. They started getting the other supplies that they had in the truck to put them in their new vehicle. It took less than ten minutes, Duncan shooted a pair of rottens that came through the main street and Mads stabbed one that crawled its way from a store. Once they were ready they settled in the new car, the adults sat at the front and the rest sat at back with their supplies. Isaak heard Victoria telling Josh to drive somewhere to the east, there was a clearing and they would be away from the town.

The whole trip over the mountains, the puma issue and finding everything they needed took many hours. They had eaten very few, but it was way more than Isaak had gotten from the bunker. Breakfast was some 'dried meat-strips' with cereal bars and then at some point in the trip, they ate cookies. But with the sun settling down soon they would get a fire to cook one of the soup cans and have a more consistent meal than the rest of the day.

"First thing we do once we get to a good place is to check the perimeter, then some will get the fire while others prepare where we'll sleep, got it?" Victoria informed and everyone made a noise to show they heard. Isaak was pleased by the organization, he had always appreciated making plans ahead and right now that kind of thing could save their lives.

"After dinner, I'll check that arm" Duncan told Isaak pointing at his bandage, there was a bit of blood in some places, the cuts weren't closing fast because they had looked pretty deep. The black-haired didn't even want to know how bad would that hurt, but he could imagine it was really bad. "It's fine, it feels okay and I'm not bleeding out" Isaak told him not wanting to bother the grey-eyed with taking care of his dumb arm. He had done that to himself and he could deal with it perfectly fine. "We need to clean it, you could catch an infection and die. I didn't waste bullets on those rottens for you to die" Duncan said sternly, it was faked but Isaak didn't see it that way. The guy had been out of the rottens' reach but he came out to the streets to save his stupid ass, he didn't have to do that and even less take Isaak with him to the group.

"Isaak, I'm joking, don't get all upset. My bullets weren't wasted and I totally don't regret using them" Duncan said chuckling softly and hitting the Russian boy's shoulder a bit to cheer him up. Isaak dragged his leg up to his chest and turned slightly to face him, he gave him a tiny smile. "That's better, man"

It didn't take long to get to that clearing that Victoria mentioned. It was by sundown and the place was big, it was like a circle in the middle of nowhere with probably a hundred feet of diameter. The trees that surrounded it weren't thick and if you stood at the border of the clearing you could perfectly see what was far away. Again just a few slow rottens were seen, this time Victoria killed them. Once there weren't things trying to eat them, Madison started the fire with some help from Isaak. Josh was putting some kind of very long string with cans all over the place, when the blonde asked what was he doing they explained that if anything touched it they would hear it and get ready to defend themselves. Duncan and Vic were putting the new blankets and the old ones on the van's floor, they dropped two pillows and rolled up clothes to make more for everyone to rest their heads on.

"Shit, this tastes good" Isaak said with the second spoon of soup that he had. Everyone turned to look at him and he felt embarrassed at all the eyes on him.

"When was the last time you ate something like this? Because this tastes pretty bad, boy" Joshua asked with concern in his voice. Isaak's shoulder dropped from their tensed up position, he tried to remember when was that, how long had it been since the warm soup was in his diet. "In the bunker, there wasn't anything to cook and if we had started a fire we would have choked on the smoke. So I never had warm soup there and after two months there wasn't soup to eat either"

"Living there wasn't as good as we all thought then" Duncan said and patted his shoulder. Isaak scoffed and shook his head before speaking "Maybe for rich people, but it was as big as this clearing, it was more like a big storage room with supplies"

They stayed in silence for the rest of their meal, Isaak kept looking at the sky, it was beautiful, he didn't miss the concrete ceiling of the bunker at all. He didn't move from there even when the rest started getting ready to sleep. The blonde only looked down when Duncan approached him with the aid kit. The black-haired grabbed his arm carefully and undid the bandages.

"It seems okay, we could stitch them up but if we don't it isn't that big of a deal" Isaak shook his head at the stitches idea, he didn't need those. "Okay tough guy, let's clean that" this time the blonde didn't hiss at the touch of the cloth with alcohol. He was too busy looking at the top of Duncan's head, he had zoned out and wasn't aware of much. A pat on his wrist was what made him focus again, his arm was all bandaged again and all the supplies were back in the box.

"You told me to not thank you until we had lost the rottens. So, thank you for saving my ass" Isaak blurted out, he regretted not saying it before. The grey-eyed nodded and sat next to him, mimicking the other's posture before answering.

"Still, you don't need to thank me. That's what friends do"

> (Friends. I don't remember the last time someone considered themselves a friend of mine. Probably it was before the first pandemic, before moving here. In the bunker, I didn't think that I'd ever make true friends after Wanda died. And I definitely thought I'd never even see anyone again when the zombies chased me around the town. But here we are, a kid that looks like a professional shooter calls me his friend. Not gonna lie, in the apocalypse that's probably the best thing that could happen to you)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear Isaak isn't an alcoholic, he just knows weird survival stuff.


	6. The Camp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Duncan and Isaak get to know each other as they work in their temporal camp.

He was surrounded by dark, he screamed at the top of his lungs, but there was no one. Isaak kept moving from side to side but nothing ever changed. He stopped when he heard growling someone behind him, he turned around but the sound was still behind him somehow. Then he felt it, a bite on his shoulder. It didn't feel like a bite, actually, it was more like a hand grasping strongly.

"Come on man, wake up" a voice said making him jump up. Instead of standing, he had been laying down and the jump made him bump against something that definitely made an "ow" noise. His eyes opened and, even if he was trying to get used to the light, he could see the frame of Duncan by his side. He was asleep all along, it was just a nightmare.

"You were tossing around, are you ok?" Duncan asked rubbing his own forehead. That was the bump, he moved so fast he had hit the other guy with his head. "Apart from the headache that I'm gonna get, yeh, I'm fine" Isaak answered pulling the blankets away from his body. He felt dizzy as he stood up too fast, but he was able to get himself to be steady and not fall over. Duncan shot him a skeptical look, Isaak moved his hand lazily.

"I get dizzy when I stand up quickly, I'm anemic" he explained and the others chuckled relieved. The blonde shrugged and looked around them, the van was empty and the doors were open. "Well, that must suck in our situation, and it doesn't help all the blood you lost" Duncan said half-joking, he didn't want to make it serious but it could be a risk if Isaak lost more blood through the wounds. The Russian boy didn't say anything, he just jumped off the car and looked around. The black-haired explained to him that Madison and Josh had gone to a small affluent of the river that was about ten minutes away to get more water. Victoria was wandering around to keep rottens from coming closer.

"Morning, Isaak" Victoria exclaimed once she came back. Apparently, there weren't lots of rottens around, she had found some smashed bodies and you could bet that some bear had done it to defend itself. If there were only bears around they would be okay, those animals would only attack them if they were a threat.

"Good morning, Victoria. What are the plans for today?" Isaak asked curiously. They had gotten enough supplies for at least a few weeks in the past two days so there wasn't really a need to look for another town to hit. "Mads and Josh think that the zone around the affluent is good to camp at. There are fishes that we could try to catch and they would be a great meal. We could make a perimeter around the van and if everything goes well, we can stay here for a few days before hitting east again" Victoria explained and she seemed more relaxed than days prior.

"That sounds good but, why are we going east?" Isaak was curious about what was there a certain destination. Maybe there was a camp of refugees or a zombie-free zone, that would be great. "We are planning on going to North Dakota, the cold makes the zombies slower so they head towards warmer places. And apparently, they have settled in Nebraska mostly, so we have to border that zone" Duncan was the one to explain this time. Isaak agreed, it wasn't a camp but if up North the zombie population was lower they had to give it a try.

It wasn't long for the other two members of the group to arrive. They had left the water they collected to boil close to their new camping zone. The water looked pretty good but for their safety, they wanted to make it 100% potable. They also dug a not too deep circumference around the zone they would be camping at, like a trench. They would put some branches up to hung the can system around them to secure the place.

"Okay, so let's get in the van, once we are there we'll start working? All clear?" Victoria asked and a hum of 'all clear' was heard as everyone got in the vehicle ready to go to their new place. As mentioned before, the location was very close so the trip was merely five minutes in the car. The trench that Josh and Mads had dug wasn't fully finished, there was a space for the van to fit, it was like the 'gate' to their camp. Once the Van was in its place Victoria told everyone what would they do. Josh would look for good branches to put up in the trench, Victoria and Madison were going check the water and bottle it once it looked well enough, and then the boys left were in charge of finding a way to fish.

"Do any of you know how to make a fishing rod?" Mads asked them when she grabbed some canteens from the bags that were lying around in the back of the van. Duncan looked at Isaak with a questioning look and the blonde shrugged. "I'm pretty sure it would be easier to make a net or use sticks to catch them" he said and the red-haired nodded telling him it was a good idea before leaving with Victoria. "I actually know how to make a rod" Duncan said nudging at Isaak's side who mumbled a "not bad".

Both of them separated to grab the things they needed. Duncan went to get branches that would help him make the fishing rod. Meanwhile, Isaak looked over the bags searching for some rope, thread, or anything that could help to make a net. The closest thing he could find was sailcloth, it seemed old so it wasn't very rigid, he could fold it in many ways. So even if it wasn't the best it was the only option he had. 

Isaak walked back to where they were going to start fishing. It didn't take long for Duncan to come back with a pile of sticks in his arms, he dropped them all by his friend's side and sighed exhaustedly. "Didn't you bring too many sticks?" Isaak asked eyeing at the bunch of branches scattered over the rocks below their feet. 

"I don't really remember what kind of stick I need to be honest" Duncan answered scratching the back of his neck, the blonde shook his head and started moving the sticks to see them better. The other guy stood there watching him practically study the branches. "I'm pretty sure that a normal rod would need to bend but these are sticks, so you should use that one" Isaak said pointing at the thickest branch, it wouldn't break if the fishes or the small current were pulling too much. Duncan thanked him for the tip and asked if the blonde need help with his fishing method.

"We just need to make a blockade right there and put the sailcloth across. We let it there for some time and then we can come back and collect our dinner" Isaak explained before asking Duncan to grab the bunch of sticks that he didn't need for the rod. Both of them took off their shoes and socks and let them over the sore, each of them stood on one side of the affluent. There weren't more than four feet between them. They started putting the sticks right next to a small waterfall, it was just a difference of four inches. Once the blockade was up they put the sailcloth under the water. The fish would fall through the waterfall into the cloth and they would be able to continue due to the wall of sticks.

"Great, now I'm gonna try to make the rod for the fishes that are outside the blockade" Duncan said sitting on the floor surrounded by sticks and some...Dental cord, apparently. Isaak sat on a rock close to him, his small activity was over and he was left to either watch the waterfall or watch the grey-eyed work on his fishing rod. Either of them was boring after ten minutes of silence, he had missed being bored, to be honest. If you are bored at least it means that you aren't busy running away from rottens.

"Wanna play something?" He blurted out of boredom, Duncan raised his head and tilted slightly in confusion. "Like twenty questions? We barely know each other. I only know your name, nationality and that you have something for surviving thanks to alcohol" the black-haired suggested and it seemed like a good idea. They agreed that they would make as many questions as they wanted not twenty to be exact and that both of them would answer every question. They started once Duncan had a knife and a piece of a can.

"Okay, so how old are you? You can't be much younger than me" he asked Isaak, looking at him for a few seconds as to guess his age before he could even answer. "I'm seventeen, you?" The blonde answered. Duncan nodded proudly because he had already guessed that. "Me too but I'm supposed to turn eighteen in a few weeks I think, I have no way to tell which day I live in" he chuckled but it was kind of sad laughter, not knowing what day is it must suck. "It's June 10th" Isaak said taking off his watch from his wrist and throwing it to Duncan. This one looked at it and at the top of it there was the date, he smiled and tried to give it back to his owner. But Isaak told him to keep it until his birthday at least.

"Were you popular at school? I bet everyone liked the grey eyes and dark hair, so aesthetic" It was Isaak's turn to ask and Duncan frowned at the use of the last word. "Dude no one says that things are 'aesthetic' anymore. Anyway, I wasn't. I didn't go to school, you know, I lived up in the mountain so it would've been difficult to go down everyday" he explained with a sigh as he carved a hole in the biggest stick. Then he looked up at Isaak waiting for his answer. "Since I moved here I wasn't very welcomed, everyone thought I was a weirdo for being foreign, and my bad social skills didn't help me" the blonde said and the grey-eyed looked at him with sorry eyes. Again, he wasn't good with words but Isaak somehow was able to understand Duncan's sympathy, so he downplayed it.

"What music do you like?" Duncan asked as he finished making a hole in his stick. "I like My Chemical Romance, Lil Peep, The Neighbourhood..." The black-haired laughed cutting Isaak off before he could continue "Of course, you had to listen to Lil Peep" he said shaking his head and turning back to his rod "I like things more like Kansas or Scorpions, I do listen to the Neighbourhood as well"

The questions kept going and Duncan was almost done with his job. He had put a shorter stick through the hole he carved and that same stick had another two on each side, the dental cord was rolled on that stick and it went up until it reached the top of the cord that had another hole for it to pass through. He was working on the end of the cord when he decided to ask one last question for the day.

"Did you ever have a girlfriend?" Duncan asked looking up to see the blonde's reaction, he was a bit surprised but he shook his head "And a boyfriend?" He asked again, this time the other's reaction was a bit more surprised "What? No, neither- Why would-" he said quickly and Duncan frowned at him, they stayed like that looking at each other before the black-haired talked again.

"Isaak...You aren't homophobic, right? Because we'd have an issue" Duncan asked and instead of how slightly angry he had looked before he was rather disappointed. "What? No, I didn't want it to sound that way. I know that you lived up in the mountains, but down here people were rather homophobic and having someone ask that kind of question never meant any good. I'm sorry, it seems like it made you upset" Isaak explained himself before standing up and sitting right next to Duncan.

"Good. I didn't know people there were like that, my dad always encouraged me to like whoever I liked" the grey-eyed sighed in relief and he felt Isaak's gaze on him. "Uh- and it upset me because I'm bi and it would've sucked if you didn't accept that" The blonde leaned to his side to bump his shoulder with Duncan's after he finished talking, to make him look up.

"It would be very hypocritical from me, I don't label myself because I haven't really experienced anything enough to know. But I'm open-minded and I don't really care" Isaak spoke and, by the time he finished, Duncan had the can piece twisted in a hook shape and it dangled from the end of the cord. "That's great, I would have hated if I had to be stuck with a homophobe" the grey-eyed laughed and stood up, he tried the mechanism of the rod and it seemed to work perfectly.

The rest of the group had finished their tasks already, Josh carried thick branches in his bag and the women were back with full bottles of water and some berries that Mads had found. It was time to pick up the sailcloth and see how much fish they got from that. Isaak asked Josh for help while the other three started building the 'fence' around the van. Once they lifted the cloth it had six fishes and they were bigger than their hands. They folded the sailcloth trapping the fish inside and dragging it to the rocks. They pulled out their knives to stop the fishes from suffering more. A cut in the head was all they needed and it was quick and without pain. 

All seven fishes were taken to the center of the camp where they would start the fire later on. Josh called Victoria to tell her about the fish. "Oh, this is great. Why don't you guys go help Mads with the fence? Duncan and I will clean the fish" she announced before whistling at the grey-eyed to join her in the middle of the camp.

Half of the fence was already up, it was just four -very big- branches but it was enough for that side because their function was mostly to hang the can system there. Isaak helped Mads put the strings around the branches and Joshua started digging a hole for the first branch on the other trench. Duncan sat next to Vic to clean the fish, which let me tell you was absolutely disgusting. They prepared them and cleaned them with the water that they had already boiled, then they cut the heads and kept them in a plastic bag because Victoria insisted that they could make soup with those later.

"I'm exhausted" Isaak dropped himself on the floor. He hadn't really moved in months and this past week had been horrible and tiring. But he didn't really complain about not being in that coffin underground, it would have been his death if he stayed there. "Welcome to the outside world, man. Get some of your whiskey, I'm sure you can come up with some way to use it and recharge" Duncan joked around as he started the fire to cook. Usually, they didn't cook for lunch but it was better if they ate the fish as soon as possible. That day dinner would be just some cereal bars and those dry meat strips. "Yeah, I could use it to drink my ass off and blackout"

"You would be wasted with the first sip" Josh added earning a glare from Isaak. Then he laughed and shook his head. "I'm a European, we start drinking at thirteen" Everyone's laughter was heard, it wasn't scandalous but it was nice. It was welcoming, and Isaak just looked at them, feeling like home.

> (Maybe this isn't the perfect world, maybe it never will be, but this is the closest I've been in months. A group of friends, laughing quietly together, sharing food that we collected together...It is nice, we may not have all the food we used to before everything went down; and we may have to run from shit that wants to eat us, but this is genuine. And I feel safe because I'm surrounded by great people who definitely know how to keep everyone alive. That week running alone was worth it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we stand Duncan being confident about his sexuality and support Isaak's unlabeled self.


	7. Our Past

_**18 June 2026** _

> (It's been more than a week since we arrived to this affluent. We thought we'd have to leave days ago but the rottens around here were very slow and there weren't many. Now I'm getting quicker and I don't freeze when I see a zombie, so that's some good progress. I've also been spending most of my time with Duncan -sometimes Mads would join us but she gets bored with our chats too soon- because we are around the same age. )

"Isaak! Give me a hand with the fish!" Victoria told the Russian boy from where she stood. He walked in the water to the other side of the affluent ready to raise the fabric and trap the fishes. But a noise distracted him, it was that familiar groan of the rottens yet it seemed changed. Isaak looked behind Victoria and he couldn't see anything else other than the other three members of the group cleaning their guns. The noise was getting closer and now Vic could hear it as well. Her eyes darted around as Isaak's had done, but she did spot it. A rotten was coming down the river. Victoria pulled her gun quickly but he stopped her "If you shut it in the water there's a risk of contaminating the affluent we won't be able to drink or fish in here anymore" Azarov explained quickly and she nodded, putting her gun on the back of her trousers.

"Okay, we need a big branch to pull this bitch out" She suggested. Isaak walked to the camp again looking for the pile of wood that they had for the fire. Duncan saw him trying to find something and came to help him.

He had seen the slight worry plastered on the blonde's face and he knew something was up. Isaak simply signaled to his right, to the river where the zombie kept coming closer because of the current. Duncan nodded wordlessly and directed Isaak to the pile. Between the bunch of wood, there wasn't anything big enough to stop and pull the zombie out. The black-haired didn't waste time jumping their fence gracefully. Isaak watched with wide eyes but followed him -just that he got out of their perimeter by the river- to the woods. The taller guy patted a tree and told Isaak to come closer.

"Stretch your arms up and try to reach the branch" the blue-eyed instructed him without a further explanation. He didn't ask either so he just did as told and jumped to grab the branch, he got it on the third attempt. Isaak didn't understand what they were doing because he was basically hanging on a tree while a rotten was coming closer to their camp. The blonde watched as Duncan jumped and grabbed the branch in just one try, then the wood in his hands started to shake and he realized that Duncan was moving as if he was jumping. Isaak decided to do the same when he heard the crack of the branch. Of course, there was their big stick.

"Jump down before it falls on you" Duncan warned him when they heard another crack from the branch. Isaak didn't waste time and let go of the wood, landing perfectly on the floor. It wasn't a really tall branch, probably it was at 6'5 feet from the ground so when Duncan let go as well he could still pull for it until it fell. Between both of them, they carried the branch to where Victoria was. They were lucky that the current was slow and the zombie hadn't reached them yet. They put the branch in the water waiting for the undead to arrive and then pull him out.

"Get ready boys" Victoria told them as both guys held the branch securely. The hit of the zombie on the stick made them stumble a little but they pushed together until it was half out and crawled the rest of the way by itself. And right when its whole body was out, Victoria shot it in the head. "Good job, guys, very creative" She said patting Isaak's shoulder.

Victoria had already told them that the next day they would be collecting their things and heading to their destination. They would wake up at seven, take off the blockade at the affluent, and grab their can system. They would leave the trenches and the fence structure in case other survivors found it, if they could help that little bit they would.

"Lunch is ready!" Josh voiced about an hour after they took down the zombie. It didn't take long for everyone to drop what they were doing to join in the middle of their camp. The three youngest members of the group sat on the branch that they had used before, the oldest two sat on rocks right in front of them. Everyone had their weapons within reach whenever they ate, they had to be ready for anything.

As usual, they chatted calmly, you could still hear the natural sounds of the water running and the wind moving the leaves. They talked about their wishes for the future, hoping that once they get to the north they will be able to settle down in a location, build a place to live, stop running...It was ambitious but it kept them going.

"Isaak, you are always with that notebook of yours, what is it?" Duncan questioned when the conversation had died down. He had been curious since he saw him pull it out the first time. It was the only belonging that he had along with his phone, which Isaak had explained that could be useful even without a signal. "Well, the school counselor told me to write my thoughts and feelings down. Since the start I've been using it as a dairy, it was helpful at the bunker when I could just say things that I wanted to say but couldn't, now I just take different notes now and then" Isaak explained biting down on his fish.

"The start...We called it the outbreak," Victoria said softly, remembering the first days of chaos. She was sure that Isaak didn't know what had happened, just like most people didn't. And she believed that it was everyone's right to know. "The infected had been contained in camps, most of them were first grade sick, which meant that they would be sick for weeks before turning. Most of the zombies were killed once they turned but they kept small groups for their studies. These studies were done by a scientist company called 'S.A.I', trusted by all governments. Until one day a sound frequency started playing through the radios of the military that guarded the buildings. It made the zombies crazy" She closed her eyes, the memories were horrible, they didn't know how to handle the situation when it started. "They jumped and broke the barriers with an agility that we didn't believe they had. We spent two days trying to control them, but we started losing people and they turned too quick. They made us evacuate to escort people to safe places. Only the rich ones. That was my cue to leave my unit. After a week of trying to find people that needed help I found a young man shooting rottens all around and then trying to steal my car"

"Hey, it looked abandoned!" Duncan defended himself, pointing at the blonde woman with the spine of his fish.

"So we are going to share our stories?" Madison asked, she liked to talk about it unlike everyone else. Most people had bad memories about it but for Mads, it wasn't that bad. She turned to look to Isaak as he was the one that didn't know their stories, he gestured her to talk. "I was being sent to a foster house around here. I had never been in one before, I had always lived in the orphan. The woman who was driving me there stopped to refill the tank, I watched her do it until something jumped on her. She was being attacked by rottens, and instead of panicking like everyone else I got out of the car, grabbed a stick, and stabbed both of them in the head. I'll always thank the gods for my obsession with Zombie movies. Then I just grabbed the car and drove until it was out of gas, which was like a week. Which got me to a full of zombies place and a firefighter. And then, boom, five zombies dead in a matter of seconds thanks to the Sargent and Sniper-boy"

Isaak couldn't help but be surprised at the ease that the young girl had to talk about it. It almost seemed creepy how she didn't care about the apocalypse, but Mads hadn't lost anyone by the chaos, she never had anyone. The apocalypse brought her to the group, to her family, something she never had. 

"The fire department was getting many calls, fires had started from cars crashing. Other people called out of panic, saying there were monsters in the streets." It was Joshua's turn to talk and unlike Mads, he did look troubled by the memories "We didn't know anything about the virus unlike the army or some cops, but we wanted to help. My unit was told to get a small truck and see what the fuss about monsters was. The street was full of rottens when we got there, my team thought they were still human. They approached the zombies while I waited in the car, reporting the situation. Once I looked up again from the truck...My mates were gone, my sister's fiancé between them. They were going to get married just a month after the outbreak, but as Tim was getting in the car to leave for our mission, my sister was being attacked by rottens...After that when we were dismissed from our job, I got all the supplies a could. I run off to help people along my way until I got here, it took a kick in the balls from Madison but it was worth it."

"I thought you were a pervert! It's not normal to reach for random people!" Madison threw a stick in Joshua's direction. Soft chuckles were shared, all four of them had lived that kick together, Isaak could just watch them but it was calming to do so. "Duncan, it's your turn" Madison reminded the dark-haired whose face turned into a frown.

"I was at home, Dad had gone hunting. When he came back he had blood on his arm. A bite. He told me about the zombies and then I had to- had to do what everyone has to...The rest you know it, I found Vic and then we found these two" Duncan's story was more rushed than the others, he was looking at his fish like it was something worth analyzing. Isaak could tell he hated talking about it, apparently, he had to kill his father and then be alone for a week or so until he crossed paths with Victoria. There was no doubt Duncan would hate talking about it, Isaak wouldn't be able to talk either.

After that they ate, keeping an eye out for zombies. But the black-haired boy seemed on edge the whole evening after sharing his story. Isaak watched him carefully, he had never seen Duncan like that. It shouldn't have been surprising because they didn't know each other for that long but he felt like Duncan was never that way.

"I'm gonna do the last patrol" the boy announced grabbing his sniper. "Alone?" Isaak questioned. Of course, he knew his new friend was amazing at shooting but it wasn't good to be out there alone.

"Yes, it's just a simple walk around"

"I'm going with you" Isaak announced grabbing the machete Mads gave him. Duncan tried to stop him but he wasn't having any of it. Both boys walked out of the camp perimeter to patrol the forest. It seemed to be calm, they could hear a few birds singing above their heads, it had been a while since they hear something like that.

"Why did you want to come along?" The black-haired asked out of curiosity. "You don't seem to be in a good mood so I didn't trust you going alone" Isaak shrugged. Duncan raised his eyebrows at him before laughing quietly, the Russian boy turned around to face him with a frown on his face.

"You are supposed to be my back up, whiskey boy?" Duncan smirked at the nickname like he was the most original guy in the apocalypse. "Leave it already, I've been learning how to defend myself these past days" Isaak glared at the other boy as they turned to the right. He had really made some process at using his machete, it was way better than guns. Isaak had learned to listen for rottens too, their way to walk was pretty different from humans. But apparently, he was still a newbie.

"We should be-" 

Before Duncan finished his sentence Isaak yelled at him to dodge something. A pair of rottens came their way. They were too close for the grey-eyed to have a clear shot so he used his weapon as a way to block the first rotten, it must have been a recently turned one though. His strength overpassed Duncan's making him trip and fall on his back. The other rotten launched himself towards Isaak, making him fall as well. The zombie opened his mouth but before he could bite, the blade of the machete came in between to block it. This one was weaker than Duncan's attacker but it was still strong. Isaak looked at his side for help but his friend was in a worse position than him. "Fuck" it was that Isaak could think, the way he was holding the blade was cutting at his fingers. His gaze moved from his bloody hand to the zombie's jaws before he made up his mind. He kept pushing forward even if it damaged his fingers, the zombie's flesh was very rotten so if he started cutting he would be able to kill it soon.

"Duncan! Just hold on a bit!"

Isaak shouted without even looking at his friend, but he hoped that when he got rid of the rotten his friend would be just fine. The blonde gained some strength from the adrenaline pumping through his veins. He finally got the zombie in a sitting position where he was able to slash his head in half. He panted at the sight of the open brain but he didn't freeze; he had to help Duncan.

The black-haired was struggling to keep that thing away, his arms felt weak and the sniper between them could break at any moment. He closed his eyes, almost accepting death, but then the overwhelming smell of death was gone. Isaak had booted the rotten on its side and was hovering it before stabbing its head with his machete. Now there wasn't any growling, just heavy breaths from both boys. They were exhausted after that unexpected encounter. Duncan didn't even move from the floor where he laid, but Isaak kneeled next to him checking for any wounds that they rotten could have caused.

"Are you okay? Did he bit you? See why I fucking told you not to go alone?" Isaak rambled, he tried to sound angry but, honestly, all sounded like worry to Duncan. It was easy to read Isaak's troubled eyes. "I'm fine. Thank you for kicking it. You got strong legs, huh?" The black-haired tried to joke but he was still out of breath. Isaak's glare didn't make him think he was funny either.

"Well, I used to play soccer all the time" Isaak said helping his friend up. Duncan stumbled slightly but it wasn't surprising. Both of them were shaky after that close to death situation. "I always hated soccer, never thought I would be glad about its existence" the black-haired chuckled and bumped his head on Isaak's shoulder, hoping that he wouldn't fall if leaned against something.

"Man, we need to get back" Isaak patted his back, feeling his friend's shivers, he didn't expect to feel Duncan shaking as much as he was. "You definitely need to get back, I thought a thing like this wouldn't scare you this much"

"We almost died, I might be used to killing them but I still get shaky sometimes. Don't worry about it though" Duncan said offering a smile to Isaak. The blonde nodded and pulled out the machete of the zombie's brain. "I bet you didn't have this much fun in the bunker"

"I never had fun in the bunker" Isaak sighed starting to walk towards the camp. Duncan frowned a bit before following him. "You really hated that place, didn't you? When you talk about it it almost sounds like it was worse than this" The black-haired said once he reached Isaak. The blonde turned his head to face him, he shook his head.

"No, man, you have been running for your life since it started. You had to worry about if you'd get eaten while sleeping or if you'd make it another day. Mine was hoping for a meal and not getting punished." Isaak explained as they walked, this time he tried to be more aware of his surroundings.

"Punished? Why?" Duncan asked confused, there were many things he wanted to ask but he wasn't sure if Isaak would answer him. But trying wouldn't kill him.

"Roger didn't want us to talk without permission and even if we got it we had to be quiet or he'd punish us." Duncan couldn't believe what he was hearing, he knew people had gone crazy but he had decided to forget about that fact.

"He beat you?" He asked carefully, it was definitely a difficult topic.

"Not always, mostly the punishment was not having food for the next day. Sometimes he did hit me, others..." The blonde took a pause for a few seconds, he looked up to the sky and then met Duncan's eyes. There was a hint of worry between the curiosity and the deep grey. "Others he would take my arms and cut. He believed that I could take it because I had done it before, I guess"

Duncan stopped walking and Isaak walked just a few more steps ahead of him. The blonde didn't know what to expect from Duncan right at that moment, because he looked pissed off and confused altogether.

"He fucking cut you? For fucks sake, why- I- because you had done it doesn't mean that it is okay for him to do that- I didn't even recognize the cuts..." The black-haired stumbled upon his words, making random movements with his arms as Isaak watched him with a sad smile.

"It's okay that you didn't see, the new wounds cover the old ones, both mine and Roger's" Isaak put his hand on Duncan's shoulder, he didn't get why the boy looked so upset for something he had no control over. But it was somehow comforting.

"I'd fucking kill him" Duncan mumbled under his breath. He didn't even mean to say it but Isaak heard him and chuckled. "He beat you on that. He was the one that turned and made us leave" Isaak told him pushing the boy forward to start walking.

* * *

"What took you so long? I was worried, boys!" Victoria yelled at the pair of guys that made their way in the perimeter.

"We had to kill two zombies and it took some time" Duncan said with a calm voice. He had already relaxed from the encounter and his talk with Isaak; the rest couldn't tell that anything happened.

"Duncan, where are the bandages? I cut my fingers with the machete" Isaak asked looking around the van hoping to find what he needed.

"Did you? Let me see that" The black-haired asked coming to where the blonde stood. The latter showed him his hand with dried blood. "It doesn't need stitches, just a cleanup and a couple of band-aids. Sit over there, I'll take the chance to change your arm bandages as well"

"Duncan, I can do it by myself" Isaak tried to argue but the grey-eyed wasn't having any of it. The blonde gave up and sat on a rock next to the river.

It didn't take long for Duncan to come back with everything he needed. He sat in front of Isaak and grabbed his hand first. He cleaned the dry blood off and put some liquid that Isaak couldn't figure out, but it stung. Then the black-haired searched through the first aid kit and pulled out a bunch of band-aids.

"Aren't there normal ones instead of colored ones?" Isaak chuckled when he saw the rainbow bands aids, Duncan looked at them and shrugged.

"I think they are cute, dude" he smiled and started putting them on each cut, two on every finger so they stayed in their place.

"Sure are" he said as he looked at the well-setted band-aids. He never knew how to put on a single band, let alone bandage an arm the way that Duncan did. "Where did you learn to nurse like this?" 

"Oh, huh, good question" Duncan snorted awkwardly before answering "Uh, my dad got hurt from time to time while hunting and...Someone had to teach me to take care of easy things and to stitch not too deep cuts"

Now it was time for the arm bandages, and Isaak had to look away. He hated the sight of them and how embarrassed he felt having someone taking care of his mistakes. His green eyes focused on the way the stars reflected on the water of the river, or the fire from a few meters away, maybe the trees on the other sore. He hoped for Duncan to finish it quickly without having to look at each other but the feeling of fingers carefully running over his arm betrayed him. Isaak looked down at the grey eyes, Duncan was just as concerned as he was in the forest and the blonde didn't like that.

"Isn't that unhygienic?" Isaak tried to joke to erase the tension, it seemed to work as Duncan clicked his tongue and smirked. "I cleaned and sanitized my hands before, idiot" the black-haired said.

"These look like they were deep" Duncan's voice was soft as he looked at the scars. The fresh wounds had been healing nicely and now that the skin was less red, you could see the different scars.

"He did those, not me.I didn't... mine were-" Isaak said rushed, one thing was talking about them when they were safely hidden under his clothes. But being exposed made it a reality that he was ashamed of. He couldn't even think straight.

"Isaak, you don't need to tell me if it triggers you, I understand" Duncan reassured him moving his fingers away from the scars, but he was holding his arm all the time. Isaak shook his head, he wanted to explain it, maybe if talked about it he could forget sooner.

"Mine were just like scratches, almost nothing, they faded in a pair of weeks just leaving thin pale lines. What he did hurt a lot...I bled too much" Isaak finally let it out, he looked up at Duncan to see his reaction. This time he didn't look pissed of and confused like earlier. He just looked upset almost like he would have teared up if Isaak kept explaining.

"I'm so sorry" Duncan said before pulling Isaak on a hug. The blonde flinched at first but then let himself be embraced. It had been months since someone had hugged him, but he didn't realize how touch starved he had been."It's okay, Duncan" the blonde said, his voice being muffled by Duncan's shoulder.

"No one will hurt you here, you know that right?" The black-haired needed to make sure that his friend knew that. He had always looked out for his group and now that Isaak joined them he'd treat him just the same.

"Yes, yes I do" Isaak closed his eyes and felt at peace for the first time in a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Isaak has been touch starved since...Forever I'd say


	8. Dreams

_24 June 2026_

> (Since the 19 we've been driving non-stop. Only resting if we had to refill the tank, go use the "bathroom" or change driver. Yesterday we came across an abandoned motorhome, we checked it thoroughly. There was a couple in the driver and passenger seats, they were fully dead thanks to the way they crashed against the tree. The crash had totally fucked up the motorhome but we managed to take some food and other items with us. So far we are having luck on our trip)

The sound of the engine being turned off caught Isaak's attention, making him look up from his notebook. Joshua and Victoria were frowning at each other and then looking back to the road. A thud next to their vehicle startled the blonde but he realized that it had just been Duncan jumping off the roof of the car.

"What's wrong?" Madison asked when she saw the looks of the members of her group. "There's a sign over there" Joshua said pointing at a wood piece a few meters in front of them. It read in black paint 'Empty house. 2 miles to the right. Safe', the group couldn't tell if it sounded like a dream or a trap. And most likely, it was the latter.

"I could see it from the top of the van, I didn't see zombies outside and there wasn't any vehicle or people either" Duncan informed as he opened the back door of the van to get in. The five of them stayed in silence, the teenagers waited to see what the adults had in mind. Victoria found the situation suspicious, no one leaves their house and says 'Hi, go to my house, you'll be safe'. As nice as it sounded, no one in the right state of mind would do that, not in the apocalypse.

"Are you sure there wasn't anyone?" Victoria asked Duncan, he had great sight but it was obvious that the house was far and he could have seen wrong. "There was no movement outside, there weren't lights in the house either" The black-haired said, grabbing more bullets and reloading his snipper. 

"I say we try out, it wouldn't be the first time we stumble upon other humans. And we are pretty intimidating" he finished by cocking his rifle.

"So now we have to fight other people?" Isaak asked raising his eyebrows, somehow it sounded way more dangerous than the rottens. Because let's be real, a rotten can eat you if you are too close, but a human can shoot you from far away.

"If we are lucky, we won't have to. But don't lower your guard, and Duncan, don't go to the roof again we don't know what is waiting" Joshua said. He was already starting the car, turning in the right direction. The van was silent except for guns being loaded and knifes being cleaned. Isaak put his pen and notebook back in his bag before taking out the machete. He wasn't looking forward to an encounter with other people, because he had no idea what to do if something like that came down.

Ten minutes later the cabin was visible between the low trees. There was no one outside, the door was closed and the windows were mostly covered except for tiny spaces to see through. Joshua stopped the van to prevent unwanted attention to them. Victoria turned around to the three teenagers and nodded indicating them to leave the car. All five were out, their weapons ready as they positioned close to each other to prevent surprise attacks.

"There's another sign, guys" Isaak pointed out. Hanging next to the door was another piece of wood, this time it had the message carved. "Key under red rock" Madison read out loud. Everyone exchanged looks, it was all too suspicious. Either way, Victoria crouched to the rock and cautiously picked it up. There was the key that opened the front door. "Okay, guys, two guns pointing forward, Duncan and Isaak keep your eyes behind us" Victoria commanded quietly.

She put the key in the lock, Joshua's and Madison's guns pointing to the door. Duncan and Isaak had their eyes focused on the forest, there were no sounds, no movements. The click of the lock was accompanied by the creak of the door opening. "Fuck, what's that smell?" Madison scrunched her nose at it. Victoria frowned and moved her head to tell the ex-fireman and the red-haired girl to move inside with her. 

"Girls...I found the smell" Joshua announced in less than three minutes being in the cabin.

* * *

"Apparently he had lost his family, he didn't want to waste his sources on his poor self so he prepared all this for someone who would need it" Victoria explained what she had read from the letter next to the corpse of a man with a bullet hole in his head. Duncan tried not to look at the dead man at all; the blonde boy frowned at his eerie behavior.

"Why are you so weird about the dead body?" Isaak asked and mentally told himself that sentence was the weirdest thing he had ever asked someone.

"He killed himself, it's pretty different from other dead people. Doesn't it disturb you?" Duncan asked sitting on a chair away from the living room where the corpse was. "It's not the first time that I see someone that killed themself" Isaak shrugged taking another chair and pulling it in front of the black-haired.

"You would have been one if I didn't find you" Duncan crossed his arms on the back of the chair, that he had to his front, and resting his head on top of them.

"Technically, that wasn't on purpose. And I would be a rotten, though" Isaak leaned on his chair to be more comfortable.

"I see that you've made yourselves comfortable while we took this bitch out" Madison said as she dragged the corpse to the front door with Victoria's help. "That's disrespectful, he is a dead person, Mads" Duncan told her off just like an older brother would, but the rest of his group all looked at him with blank expressions.

"Says the boy that yells 'Suck my dick you dead bitch' when he shoots zombies" Joshua deadpanned. Duncan tried to say it was not the same but he just ended up shutting his mouth and scratching the back of his head.

Once they got the dead man out of the house, Josh moved the van closer to the entry to get some of the blankets and pillows. There was food in the cabinets of the kitchen so they didn't bring in any of theirs. The sun would set soon and they had to think about the safety of sleeping in the cabin.

"The doors lock with the key that we have and every window is sealed. It's as safe as the van but comfier" Isaak said hitting the metal of one of the windows to give it some emphasis. "I don't think we have to watch overnight, guys"

"Don't you think it's putting too much trust?" Joshua asked. It could sound like it but there was no way that someone could have made a copy of the keys and then planned a horrible trap. It was the apocalypse, not a bad crime TV show.

"If we all sleep here in the living room with our weapons with us we shouldn't have a problem, we are next to the door in case we need to run away and if someone opened it while we sleep we'd hear it" Isaak suggested. It sounded about right, two of them could sleep on the couch, another one on the armchair, and the other two could get most of the blankets and pillows and take the floor.

"I get dibs on the couch!" Madison yelled as she jumped on it with a chuckle. Victoria dropped herself right next to Mads to claim it as well. It was only the three men left and all of them were gunning for the armchair. Both women watched as they kicked each other to get their place, Isaak and Duncan teaming up each time Josh seemed to get closer and then fighting each other for the armchair giving Joshua an advantage again. And like that the ex-fireman claimed the chair for himself. "Sucks to be you, boys!" Madison mocked them and both boys glared at her.

By the time they had arranged their sleeping places, the night had fallen. It was dark in the cabin, Joshua tried out the lights and surprisingly there was electricity. There must have been a generator somewhere in the house that was still running. Thanks to the bright light they could manage themselves in a real kitchen, it had been months since any of them came even close to one. In the cabinets, there was different canned food and, even better, pasta.

Madison and Isaak were the ones in charge to cook that night while the rest put the blankets and pillows in the couches and floor. Victoria had said that it reminded her of the sleepovers she'd have when she was younger, sadly no one could agree with her. "What kind of sad childhoods did you all have? Ugh, my poor little kids" she said and no one really said anything about how she was including Joshua as 'poor little kid' they just chuckled softly.

"We'll leave tomorrow morning after we eat something, you can grab things if you think they are useful" Victoria announced before they went to sleep.

* * *

Duncan was sleeping on his back, it always felt safer since the apocalypse started. But he jolted awake when something grabbed his shirt. He sat up, hand patting the floor to find his knife, and looked at his side, assuming he'd see a dead, pale hand. Yet he was greeted by something slightly different, one of Isaak's hands had fisted the hem of his shirt as if his life depended on it. Duncan rubbed his eyes to get a better look at the scene. Isaak was curled up, trembling very slightly and frowning consistently. The grey-eyed realized that his friend must have bad dreams, it wasn't the first time he'd see the blonde mutter or shake as he slept.

Duncan pulled his knees to his chest and rested his head on his arms. There was no way to move Isaak's hand and he preferred to wait for the blonde to wake up in case he was freaked out. 

It didn't take long for Isaak to open his eyes abruptly as he took a shaky breath. He blinked in hopes his eyes would adapt to the darkness in the room. And as soon as he did he noticed the grey gaze that watched him directly. Duncan offered him a tired smile and Isaak returned it in an awkward way. The blonde could feel the fabric he was grabbing onto about a minute later when he was more aware of his surroundings. He quickly let go of Duncan's shirt apologizing for holding it on his sleep.

"You had a bad dream, I didn't mind, Izzy" Duncan chuckled at the nickname he gave to Isaak but the blonde stared at him with a look difficult to decipher. "You don't like that name? I thought it was cute" The grey-eyed added, a bit embarrassed.

"No, no, I do like it. My mother used to call me that when I was a kid, I guess it just caught me off guard." Isaak chuckled quietly. He didn't want to wake anyone up, he had done enough by waking up Duncan. "Sorry for waking you up, man" The black-haired shook his head, his way to reassure Isaak that he was okay with it.

Duncan waited to see if the guy by his side would fall asleep, but it didn't look like it. The blonde was facing up, his arms folded over his stomach, not even trying to close his eyes and rest. Isaak knew there was a little chance that he'd fall asleep after a nightmare, he had tried many times before and it rarely worked. It didn't matter if he knew he was safe or that he wasn't alone, that uneasy feeling wouldn't leave him. That feeling was visible to the outside world, not only to the insides of his mind. That's why his friend scooted closer, ready to talk without disturbing the rest of their group.

"Before all this, I used to tell my dad about the few nightmares that I would have. At first, I didn't like it because it was like reliving the dream, but soon I realized that once that I finished talking, that scary feeling would leave. If I was quiet about it, it felt like I had bottled up all my emotions."

"What a way to ask me about my dream" Isaak mocked him. It didn't offend the grey-eyed, though, because he could guess that the boy was just trying to downplay it. He smiled and answered, "I didn't know how to approach it". To which Isaak nodded and sighed.

"It's a recurrent dream" he started "Most of the time I can't see or I'm in a dark spooky room. I'm always alone until I feel cold boney hands grabbing me, I hear those horrible growls and people screaming in fear. It usually ends with me getting beaten or being shot in the head. The worst thing is the feeling of hopelessness that I have through it because I can't move or speak or yell. I just stand there until I die." The way Isaak spoke reminded Duncan of how Maddie would talk about the start of the end, no emotions as if he was reciting something trivial from school.

"Huh" Isaak turned to look at Duncan who was moving his head, "I thought your dreams would be full of explosions with some weird song on the background" The blonde was glad to hear that kind of comment. Because even if Duncan was right about how it was better to talk about his dream, he probably wouldn't stand to have a serious talk about it.

"Oh, come on. I bet you used to have bad dreams about having to choose between things" Isaak joked as well, getting a shocked faked face from his friend.

"That was really stereotypical...But true-"

It took an hour. An hour for Isaak to fall asleep as he listened to a hunting story that Duncan was telling him. It relieved the black-haired when there were just soft snores as answers to his little story, he had hoped that talking would calm his friend down. He laid back down and smiled at the ceiling before drifting off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is Duncan being caring, the actual dream I'm talking about? Could be, because who wouldn't want a caring boy watching over them.


	9. No more Silence

Just as planned, the five members of the group had collected everything that they found necessary in the old cabin and they were ready to hit the road. Their new acquirements were more canned food, the small generator that they found outside the cabin, some duct tape, and tools. Everything that they had listed seemed useful, yet there was something that caught Duncan's eyes after some hours in the car. It was inside Isaak's bag, he had seen it back in the house but it served no use.

"Isaak, why'd you grab that?" He asked the other boy, signaling the device.

"Oh, the tape player? Vic saw you staring at it, she asked me if I could fix it" The blonde boy answered with a shrug as he pulled the object out of his bag.

Duncan tried to tell him that it was just a heavyweight and it was stupid to carry it around, but Victoria answered in the other blonde's behave. It had been her choice, she thought that having music could bring their spirits up. Duncan knew better than to argue with ex-Sargent no matter how much of a hot head he was. He bit his tongue and looked at Isaak's hands holding the cassette player, he wondered if it could be fixed with so little spare materials.

_"Dad! Why do you have that old thing? There are so many cool things that play music too" Seven-year-old Duncan exclaimed after watching an ad on their TV._

_"Oh, Derek. I got this when I was young, and I wouldn't be able to let it go" His dad smiled at him. His toothy grin always made his son laugh lively. "It might not work very well, but you know there's nothing your old dad can't fix"_

_Duncan would spend many hours with his dad, watching him reassemble, switch and take out different pieces of that old tape player. He had always been great at building things and fixing them, his son wanted to be like him but he was too clumsy. He would lose the small pieces or maybe he didn't understand where it should go. But his dad always praised him for just trying it out._

_"I will never be as cool as you!" Duncan whined, crossing his arms and pouting like the little child he was._

_"Just because you still don't understand how to fix this, it doesn't mean you will never learn. And I'm sure you know how to do way cooler things than I do" The man smiled fondly at his grey-eyed son, the little boy had always tried to be more mature than other kids he had come across. "Uhm, last day I saw you drawing a dinosaur, I don't know how to do that!"_

_"Don't be silly! You were the one that taught me!"_

***

_"Derek? How was that birthday party? You don't look happy" His now older looking dad asked once he came through the door._

_"It was dumb, Malcolm said he would stay with me but he just left with someone else" Duncan, at his twelve, had just come back from his friend's friend's birthday. He didn't really fit there, it had been in town with a lot of kids that he didn't know and his only friend left his side._

_"Oh, buddy...Would you like some snacks? We could make our own little party" The man tried to lighten the mood, but his son was too upset to accept his offer. He didn't even say anything as he walked to his room, eyes fixated on the floor._

_It wasn't until an hour later that Duncan heard the old sound of their cassette player. It was soft but he would recognize that song anywhere, just like his dad singing the lyrics, probably pretending to be even worse than he was. Derek felt bad when he realized that his dad wasn't at fault for what happened. The man just wanted to cheer him up._

_"TNT! I'm dynamite!" He yelled as he made his way to the living room. The old tape player was on top of their table and his dad held a beer and a diet coke in his hands._

_"See, Derek, we can have fun! You, me, and this old shit!"_

"Duncan, wanna help?"

"Huh?" Duncan blinked at Isaak. He had zoned out watching him disassemble the device, remembering old memories way before the apocalypse. "I don't think that's a good idea. I used to have one and I would just lose its pieces all the time"

"You could just hold these wires for me, I'll do the rest" Isaak grabbed his hand and guided it to the too cables that needed to be held. It didn't seem as difficult as he remembered from his childhood.

As they drove in the right direction, while the others rested, they worked on the old thing. Duncan being mostly a technical support, holding things out for Isaak to cut or handing him the needed tools. But Isaak was way more focused, his face showed a frown and sometimes he stuck his tongue out and bit it. It was amusing to watch.

_"Isaak! Did you steal my old hairdryer?" His mom shouted at him from the living room._

_"Yeah...But it is for a school project!" Isaak lied, he had 'borrowed' the hairdryer to use its pieces as replacements for the motor of his skateboard. Let's say he had a hobby, it wasn't the usual one but it kept him entertained._

_"Whatever, just don't make a mess in your room!"_

_He was excited to try out his new motor for his board, for him it was unique and way cooler than the normal ones, or those that the rich kids would buy. He wished his friends would be as excited as he was. But no matter how impressive Isaak thought he was with his mechanical skills, his buddies didn't even try to match his enthusiasm._

_It wasn't the only time, whenever he met someone and he tried to show them one of his little inventions, they would just tell him that there way cooler things that could be bought at stores. And with time the words ended up sinking in, making Isaak stop showing the things he made to anyone, and keeping them as his little secrets. He believed that they would never be recognized and that his skills had no use. Yet, it was better to be occupied with his electronics than have his mind filled his doubt and intrusive thoughts. Maybe no one cared about what he did, but it made him feel better._

"Man, it's so cool that you know how to do this" Duncan broke his focus on the wires. His head shot up instantly, raising an eyebrow at his friend. It was visible that his intentions were innocent and sincere. After all, the black-haired had spent over an hour hearing his murmurs and watching him do all that stuff without complaining.

"Eh...Thank you, I used to fix things when I was bored" Isaak felt awkward but fluttered by the compliment he had received. He put a piece of duct tape to settle some pieces together before sighing. "I think we should take a break, my fingers are cramping"

"We'll stop soon to eat dinner and rest as well" Joshua announced after a while. They wouldn't get out of the van to sleep that night, the road was frequented by some rottens. It wasn't a large amount but there was no need to take unnecessary turns to watch over. They could all sleep in the back of their vehicle without feeling crowded and it would be much safer.

"I remember traveling through this part of the country when I was young..." Victoria started narrating, Joshua rolled his eyes at her dreamy voice. But the teenagers listened carefully. "Me and my...Friend were going to this natural reserve. She was studying vet and I was on a break myself, she wanted to see the different species in a more natural environment. Back then you could even see some wild animals by the side of the road, instead of rottens"

"Vic, you make it sound like you are too old" Josh laughed at her. Maddison comment that she reminded her of some old hag that used to take care of her back at the orphanage.

Sharing stories was something common in the group, easier for some, and more complicated to others. But at the end of the day, they always knew something new. Like how Victoria was scared of owls, Maddison's interest in (naturally found) animal bones, the weird songs Josh would write when he was a teenager...For the boys, it was a bit less easy to speak about those things out loud, but they also found out about their nursing and mechanical skills, even if it was less detailed.

It took them an hour to stop at a good place. There weren't any rottens by the time they got there, it was an empty landscape only some busses here and there. The first one to get out of the vehicle was Maddison, she kept whining about the pain in her legs and how she needed to stretch them properly. The rest followed suit, weapons ready and eyes alert.

They collected some of the leaves from the busses nearby and some branches. Duncan and Josh started the fire to cook two of the canned grilled chicken. The name wasn't welcoming, nor was the looks of the food, but you couldn't be too picky. And, honestly, for a starving person, those cans were heaven.

"Okay, should be ready in a bit"

"I'm starving, and my legs are in pain. Why the fuck is everything so inconvenient" Madison huffed as she played with her dagger. The group watched her as they sat around the fire.

"I'd say it's because of the apocalypse, Mads. That or you are one your period" Isaak said pretty serious, even if the dialogue sounded pretty dumb from the exterior.

"Don't even mention that. Having it these past months has been hell"

***

Isaak held one of the walkie-talkies that they had in his left hand. He had never looked at them closely as he had only seen one the first time he met Duncan. But now he was paying more attention to it. It was Mads’ idea, she thought that maybe he could fix the devices in case they had to be separated again.

"You know, I'm not actually a mechanic or anything..." Isaak had said when Maddison told him about it. "I've never really fixed one of these"

"Man, if you can fix that old shit" she pointed to the record player that sat in a corner "You can fix those walkies" Sure, it couldn't be too difficult to repair them. But the thing was to know where to start.

First things first, check if they turned on. Or at least where did you have to push for that to happens. It took him two minutes to figure it out and then another one for the small screen to show some numbers. The one he had in his hand seemed to work fine and so did the one he picked up later. Both showed the numbers of different channels, they could switch to the one that he wanted but they kept making that annoying static sound.

Isaak stared at the devices blankly and looked over Joshua and Mads who sat at the front seats. "Eh...Did y'all not think about the problem being in the antenna?" he asked them as he moved that part of the walkie until the static sound stopped and he could hear himself through the other walkie talkie.

"Boy, I was a firefighter, not an electrician" Josh pointed at him with his finger as to accuse the blonde boy. Mads nodded in agreement as Isaak put some tape on the walkie to avoid them from moving and giving them trouble again. "Anyways shouldn't we call the other two? They've been out there for a while now, man" The red-haired girls stretched her arms out, almost punching the man by her side.

"How's that record player going?" Meanwhile, Victoria asked the black-haired boy, both sitting on the roof of the van. Duncan gave her a side glance before answering her. "Isaak says it will be fixed soon, it wasn't that damaged" He looked at her properly now, she was nodding and smiling to the front. "There was an actual reason for you to tell Isaak to grab it, right?"

Victoria couldn't help but chuckle at the boy. He already knew Vic better than most people had ever known her, she didn't like lying to him. "I saw you looking at it, you looked melancholic. And I thought it would be a good distraction for you two. Even Maddison was entertained looking at what you did"

"Do you think we need distractions? I think we are already preoccupied with other things, like, not dying" Duncan joked, but he didn't quite comprehend the need to be distracted with something like fixing an old thing. But Victoria shooked her head and played with the ring on her finger. "You are kids, no matter the situation. You deserve to forget about the apocalypse even for a bit." There was no lie, when they focused on the tape player, he hadn't thought about the outside, the zombies, surviving... "And moreover, some bonding would be good. Having another friend that you can trust blindly is the best thing that could happen nowadays"

Trust. It was something hard to achieve, but Duncan had already given it to every single one of the members of his group. Even the new integrant had won it with his honesty and by saving him from the rotten in the forest. He had known how other people turned out after the breakout, how they were two-faced and mischievous. But Isaak wasn't like that and Duncan knew it from the moment they met. Victoria was right; distractions, friends, and bonds were crucial, a treasure.

**Author's Note:**

> And that was all for the epilogue, come soon to see more about Isaak's story! Thanks for reading


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